Playing the Board
by Pookie2
Summary: The Courier receives an invitation to attend the opening of the Sierra Madre Casino.  Part 3 of the "All the Things You Are" storyline.  Rated for Language, Violence and Sexual Innuendo.
1. Dead Blind

"So I'm running my ass off trying to find Boone, and of course they're all swarming on him. I turn the corner and there they all are. So right as one gets a hold of him, I give 'em a taste of Brutus." Layla patted her new chainsaw fondly. "Assholes didn't see me coming."

"I'm still finding most of this hard to believe" said Veronica, eyeing the heavy piece of machinery as the two walked down the road. The thing was a bit of a mystery, as it was big and unwieldy, and Layla had trouble opening a can of Cram without assistance. But she was damn-near graceful when she wielded the chainsaw she had pulled from a dead Legionary's hand. Raul had said that sometimes weapons found their masters, and Brutus seemed to be fond of The Courier.

"Well, you know how it is, waltz in, kill Caesar, waltz out," The Courier said, the lightest touch of smugness coloring her words. Veronica stopped, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at the shorter woman.

"Oh yeah, 'cause you really planned the whole thing out. Your dumb ass is lucky Raul knows how stupid you get and Boone knows how to blow a guy's head off from a mile away. Never mind you nearly got yourself killed for Benny. Benny!" The girl gave her a suspicious look. "Is Cass right? Did you two do it?"

"NO!" Layla nearly shouted. She caught Veronica's look and groaned. "Okay, fine. Do you want the real story?" Veronica nodded, grinning. "Well… On the way up to the room, I thought about it… I think I nearly convinced myself to do it… but I couldn't."

"What changed your mind?"

"I don't know, somewhere between thinking it was a bad idea and feeling dirty. I'm not a 'hit it and quit it' kinda girl."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure it had nothing to do with saving yourself for any dark, brooding snipers."

"What? No! Nothing! Shut up!" Layla turned red, then made a face at the other girl. "What do you mean 'saving myself?' I've dated before, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure you've given Valentine's notes and giggled while holding hands without a chaperone."

"What? Screw you, I've had plenty of sex."

"Sure,"

"Just because I never got my girlfriend to rewire my powerfist to-"

"Hey! I told you that in confidence! You -" the scribe stopped as the radio on Layla's Pip-Boy cut off. The Courier looked at her arm, confused.

"The hell?" Veronica peeked over her arm. "What happened?"

"Looks like it picked up a new signal." She adjusted the knob, and the broadcast came in clearer.

"Has your life taken a turn? Do troubles beset you? Has fortune left you behind? If so, the Sierra Madre casino, in all its glory, is inviting you to begin again." Both women listened as the broadcast announced the opening of the Sierra Madre. The woman's voice seductively touted the casino's charms and inviting the listener to explore them. The message began to repeat, and The Courier snapped it off.

"Sierra Madre? Isn't that an old wives' tale?" Layla said. Veronica shrugged and the other girl fiddled with her Pip-Boy. "It's a new signal. Do you think we can find it's origin?"

"Hm." Veronica looked at the machine, then grabbed the other girls arm, dragging it to her. "Let me see."

"Ow! Arms don't twist that way!" Layla cried, twisting herself around to straighten her arm.

"Hush, give me a seconds." The scribe started working the dials of the machine as The Courier watched.

"There's a data packet worked into the radio signal. If we can get into it, it should embed a location on the map for… there!"

Examining the map, Layla smiled. "It's not far from Forlorn Hope. Wanna go check it out?"

"Why not? I'm sure there's no raiders at the end of the signal, waiting for anyone stupid enough to fall for their trap. And I'm sure they don't plan to rob and kill us because anyone that stupid deserves it."

"You're such a pessimist," Layla said as they followed the signal.

*.*.*

The bunker smelled like 'dank' as Veronica put it. 'Gone to the Sierra Madre' was scrawled in graffiti on the wall and garbage strewn about the floor. Even in the dim light, it didn't take long for the two women to discover a corpse. It didn't bother either girl so much; they had lived in the wasteland long enough to be used to the sight of a headless body. Layla had determined the head was missing via explosion, but nothing else.

A huge metal door greeted them at the bottom of a staircase, and Layla thumbed the release mechanism. It slid open, revealing a hallway.

"Hey! Look, an old-timey radio," Layla commented as she spotted the device placed at the end of the corridor. "A really nice one at that." She started down the hall toward the ornate machine. Veronica moved to follow her, but spotted a banner on the wall the other girl had missed.

"What in the…" The scribe said as she recognized the Brotherhood of Steel symbol spray-painted on the wall. "This must have been an Brotherhood bunker." She turned to see Layla's reaction, but The Courier hadn't been paying attention.

"Hey look: yes to the old radio, no to the raiders. I told you you were a pessimist," Layla said, moving closer to examine the radio. As she took her next step, a pressure plate depressed under her foot.

"Oh shi-" She was drowned out by the hissing of vents above her head. Gas poured into the room, and before either girl could react, they both clattered to the floor, unconscious.

*.*.*

Red haze, all Layla could see was red haze. She closed her eyes, rubbing them slowly. When she opened them again, the haze was still there. She could dimly hear a voice talking as her eyes focused.

"Are you listening?" a harsh voice grated at her, and she looked up. The holographic face of an old man glared down at her, shining brightly in the haze.

"Good. Play stupid, play clever, say no and that collar around your neck'll go off and take your head with it." The face didn't move as it spoke, apparently just a still image to accompany the voice.

"Collar?" Layla brought her hands to her neck as she realized there was something encircling it. She started as her hands found leather and metal.

"It's just like your Pip-Boy, a piece of the Old World, but this one is full of explosives."

Growing horror started to grip Layla as she touched what was probably a detonating mechanism. He wasn't kidding. She suddenly whipped her head around, looking for Veronica, the girl was no where to be found.

"What have you done with my companion!"

"You were brought here alone. And Until I let you go, there's no escape."


	2. Cards in the Air

Blood and rot. The air smelled like blood and rot. The old computer logs said the construction of the Villa was flawed; cheap material and disgruntled work crews. The sight of decay matched the smell in the air, all of which was heightened by the red haze, making the walls and ground look like they were coated in dried blood.

Layla slowly made her way through the streets of the Villa, clutching the holorifle in her hands so tightly her knuckles were white. The girl wasn't very good with a rifle, and the gun in her hands didn't have many shots. Once they were gone, she'd have to rely on her hand-to-hand skills, which meant she was screwed.

Slowly turning the corner, Layla stepped onto a red-hazed street. She caught a glimpse of movement as a dark figure shamble out of sight further up the road. The Courier hunched down and looked through the scope of her rifle. Whatever it was, it was gone.

Groaning, she dug through her pockets, taking stock of what she had. Three stimpaks, a handful of holorifle rounds, and something bulky stuffed into the pocket of her jumpsuit. Pulling out the item, Layla laughed out loud as she realized it was the radio the NCR had given her 'in case of emergencies.'

"I think this qualifies…" She switched it on and was met with loud static. The Courier squeezed the broadcast button, "Uh. Hello? This is Layla, uh, Ranger Dobbs gave me this radio if I ever needed help. I need help…how are you?" Only static answered her. After several attempts, she was still met with silence.

"Oh well, too good to be true." The spark of hope, even if it had been for nothing, had rejuvenated her slightly, and she continued down the street. The rifle was still clutched in her hand, tight enough to be painful, and every step was slow and unsure. But she kept moving.

The police station's sign glowed faintly in the haze ahead. The signal from one of the other collars was originating from the building, hopefully still attached to its owner. That would be the super mutant, one of the three people she was being sent to find, and whose fates were tied to hers. This was the one who was loyal to her captor, and who had dragged her here in the first place. She had the feeling she wasn't going to like this person.

Just as the door to the station became visible, she heard a screech. Turning, she raised her rifle and gasped at what jumped into view.

It was clad in a filthy, bulky mud-colored body suit. Over its head was a breathing mask, its eyes lit to an eerie green glow. One of the Ghost People her host had warned her about. Before Layla could shoot, it jumped at her, swinging a spear. The Courier barely dodged the multi-bladed weapon. The thing was fast; Layla barely dodged two more slashes before backpedaling away and raising her rifle. Energy bolts perforated the creature's chest as it lunged at her again. The thing made a horrible howling noise as it sunk to the ground and stopped moving.

Layla smiled a little as she noted she had only used four shots. Maybe this whole thing wouldn't be so bad. Turning for the door of the police station, she heard a hiss. Layla looked back in time to see the thing she had just shot down rise back to its feet. Dumbstruck, she barely had time to react as it leapt at her once again with its spear.

Layla cried out as it sliced a good-sized gash in her arm. "What the fuck!" she screeched at it, firing wildly as the creature skittered toward her again. After pumping several rounds into the thing, it still didn't fall. Desperate, she turned and threw the door to the police station open, running in.

Slamming the door behind her, she waited, and after a few moments, nothing happened. .She checked her rifle; there were only two shots left now. Layla bit her lip; she was screwed. Looking up, she caught sight of the super mutant across the room in a jail cell. It didn't seem to notice her, however, and sat with its eyes cast to the floor, muttering softly to itself.

Pulling herself back together, Layla took a step toward the mutant. As she did, the collar around her neck started beeping. With a start, she jumped back, crashing into the door painfully. The beeping stopped, and the girl let out a shaking breath.

Leaning on the door, she scanned the room, immediately spotting the problem; two radios, an old dispatch unit on a desk near the cell and a more ornate model further away. The old man had warned her that radio signals could interfere with the collars and set them off. Both were turned on, and The Courier wondered if someone had knowingly set a trap for her, or for the super mutant in the cage.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Layla called out to the captive.

"I want to go back to the church," the nightkin whimpered, not seeming to notice the girl. She sighed and raised her rifle, trying not to think about how screwed she'd be if she missed this shot.

The radio exploded as the energy round struck. Layla turned to the other radio, carefully lining up the shot. It burst apart, and the room went silent. She gingerly stepped forward, then sagged in relief when her collar didn't beep. She took a deep breath and moved toward the jail cell.

The nightkin was covered in cuts and scars, the worst of which spelt out "DOG" on its chest. There was also a bear trap lodged into his forearm and chains around his neck. The hulking figure didn't seem perturbed by the injuries, even as he whined about being hungry.

"Hey," Layla tried to sound as soothing as possible, "I'm here to get you out." The mutant didn't respond, instead whining again about how hungry it was. "Who locked you in here? Do you know where the key is?" Again there was no answer. Layla frowned and started to look around the room. The key had to be somewhere.

*.*.*

"There, on the table. My voice."

The Courier looked at the holotape in confusion. The mysterious voice that had come from her Pip-Boy radio when she entered the basement had directed her here, promising her the key to "Dog's" cage. The room was empty like the rest of the basement. There was no key here, just the tape.

"Take it to the cage above," the voice continued. "Let me speak to the beast."

Layla picked up the holotape. "Who are you?" she said out loud. So far, the only signals she'd gotten on her Pip-Boy in this place had been from the old man and from the other collars. If hers had a microphone in it like the others, maybe someone was listening. But there was no answer.

Going back up the stairs, she approached the jail cell that held Dog. He barely looked up at her as she approached and thumbed on the recording.

"Dog, back in the cage."

Further confused, Layla watched as the super mutant climbed to his feet and faced her. His facial expression had changed, and he held himself differently. It was as if a different person faced her now.

"You're not who I expected…" said the voice that had spoken to her in the basement, now coming from the nightkin in front of her.

"Still, you may be of use to me. You can't be that stupid if you figured out how to let me out of my cage. Though, given that collar around your neck, perhaps that's not the case."

Layla's hand went to the collar on her neck without thinking. Clearly, this was not Dog speaking to her. Multiple personalities in a nightkin were not unusual, but the difference between these two was severe. She had seen graffiti throughout the Villa that related to Dog. Most of them had also mentioned God. She nearly smirked at the palindrome.

"So you must be God," she said.

The nightkin gave her what might have been a grin or a scowl, or maybe both. "I am the voice of reason. Dog's conscience, as it were. I was caged, but now that you've released me, Dog has gone back to the cage."

"You don't have a collar…" Layla noted. The collar's signal on her Pip-Boy map had led her directly to the super mutant, but there was no sign of it on him.

"I… Well, yes, I do." The girl gave him a confused look, so he continued. "Dog sometimes gets too hungry, and doesn't care what he swallows. I can feel it now. Your presence has reactivated it, tugging like a leash."

Layla had to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing. "I didn't arm these things, that's for sure."

"Then you must be working for the Old Man. Perhaps you're stupider than I thought."

The girl laughed, despite herself. "Well, at least I wasn't stupid enough to swallow an explosive collar." She caught the nightkin glaring at her and crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, we need to get you out. Do you know where the key is?"

"I'm not going anywhere," the nightkin answered.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Dog will do anything the Old Man says, regardless of the harm it does to us or to others. I can't let him continue."

"You locked yourself in," The Courier realized.

The mutant nodded. "If the Old Man wants his pet back, you tell him to come and get him out himself. Otherwise, I'm not moving."

The Courier gave him an exasperated look. "Come on, he isn't going to come out here. That's why he sent me. That's why he has us running around doing his work for him. We need to work together… Our collars are linked. One goes off, they all do. If we just do what the old man wants, we can get out of here."

"You truly are dull-witted to think the Old Man is going to just let you go. Even if he did, you wouldn't. The greed will get you just as it has all the others who have come here. I want nothing more to do with it."

Layla made a face, then looked down at her Pip-Boy, a faint smile coming to her face as a thought crossed her mind.

"Listen, Dog will come out if he hears the Old Man, right?" God gave her a suspicious look.

"Yes…why? Can you contact him?"

"No, but I have a recording of his voice…"

An enraged look came over him and he took a menacing step forward.

"You do that, and I'll find my way out of the cage and murder you. Rip your arms and legs from their sockets and crush you to splinters."

"Wait, wait!" Layla backed up, not prepared for his mood swing. "You don't want to do that. If-"

"If you die, I die? But you won't, not right away. I'll break every bone in your body, but leave you alive and walk away until my collar goes cold. I'll prop you in front of the Sierra Madre so you can look at your failure until the end."

God regarded the girl carefully; she was obviously intelligent, but cowardly. She had taken a few steps back as he had threatened her, clutching the pistol she had recently found in her hand tightly. It took a few moments for her to drum up the courage to respond to him.

"If you come with me willingly, I won't have to bring Dog back," she finally said. "Cooperate for now, and we can both have our freedom."

Layla caught the hint of a grin from the nightkin. She had convinced him, she knew, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being manipulated in turn. "You might regret this," said the mutant. "Dog is much better at surviving this 'paradise.'" He unlocked the cage and stepped out. The girl watched him carefully, aware that he could still turn on her at any moment. When he didn't, she let out a breath.

"Okay, let's get back to the fountain and find out what's next…"

God followed without a word. They stepped out into the street. Silence hung heavily over the Villa. Layla heard the super mutant mutter under his breath as they moved toward the fountain, something about crushing her bones. She felt better about the pistol in her hands. The growling super mutant at her back was not helping her mood, however.

They had made their way across a courtyard and were going through an alley when two Ghost People dropped down in front of them. A third appeared behind, cutting off their escape. Thinking quickly, Layla opened fire on the third, running past it as it fell to the ground. She knew it wouldn't stay down, but there was more room to fight in the courtyard.

She heard a loud grunt of pain from behind and turned to see God limping after her with a short spear through his leg. One of the remaining Ghost People was taking aim with another spear. The Courier fired at the thrower to draw its attention. Unfortunately, it worked, and she twisted to avoid the next razor-sharp projectile, which sliced a hole in the arm of her jumpsuit.

The other attacker had caught up to God. The nightkin had managed to grab hold of the Ghost's spear, and the two were wrestling for weapon. The super mutant was clearly stronger, but he was wounded, and the Ghost was much faster. It leapt up, using the spear as leverage, and landed on God's shoulders, pulling the spear blade toward the mutant's throat. Back in the alley, the third Ghost Person got back to its feet.

Layla fired at the spear thrower again, then ducked behind cover. She brought up her Pip-Boy and quickly searched through its sound clips. God's threats echoed in her mind, but as she saw the third Ghost from the alley moving to join the fight with the nightkin, she played the recording.

The sound of the old man's voice calmly giving orders was quickly drowned out by a bellow of rage from the super mutant. With renewed strength, he pulled the Ghost Person off his back and slammed its head into a nearby pillar. Layla could hear its neck break from where she was. Dog then backhanded the second attacker as it charged forward, sending it flying back into a wall. As the creature shakily got to its feet, the super mutant grabbed the it by the mask and slammed its head through the wall. The rest of its body dangled by the neck from the hole its head had made in the wall.

The Courier, watching the action with open-mouthed shock, had forgotten about the third Ghost. It slammed into her, knocking her over and pinning her to the ground. She tried to line up a shot as it raised its spear to strike, when Dog suddenly appeared, grabbing the creature and wrestling it to the ground.

Layla scrambled to her feet, but Dog seemed to have things under control. At first, he seemed to be simply pummeling the thing to death, but as the girl watched, he gave a feral cry and ripped the creature's arms out of its sockets. The creature's final shriek of pain died out as the super mutant began chewing on one of the limbs.

Layla watched, wide-eyed and paralyzed with shock, as Dog stripped the arm of its meat. She was vaguely aware of feeling sick.

Dog put the arm down, seemingly satisfied for the moment, and looked up, noticing the girl for the first time.

"Dog feel better now," he said. She could only nod in answer.

"Well, um… Thanks," she said as she found her voice again. "Thanks for… taking care of them."

The nightkin gave her a simple, pleased smile, then looked down at the body at his feet. "Have to break their necks, break their backs to kill them. Or they get back up."

"Oh… Do you know anything else about them?" The Courier asked.

"No. There's a lot of them. Dog always hungry."

Layla nodded again. She looked over the nightkin again, noticing his wounded leg.

"I'd better patch up that wound …"

"No," the mutant said firmly. "Pain helps Dog not think, keeps the other voice away. He doesn't like it when Dog listens to the Master."

"Oh. All right…" The two fell silent as they walked back to the fountain, Dog following obediently behind The Courier.

"Dog," Layla said, remembering something the old man had said to her. "Did you bring me here?"

The nightkin nodded at her, "Dog bring lots of people here. From the traps."

The Courier nodded. "Do you bring anyone else with me?" When he gave her a confused look, she continued. "Another girl, wearing a robe and a… a metal thing on her arm?"

"You have metal on your arm…"

"No. Well, yes I do, but not me. She was with me in the bunker, in the trap."

"Dog doesn't remember. But sometimes, when traps are full, Dog eats leftovers."

The super mutant looked blankly back at her, not understanding why she suddenly turned pale and looked like she was going to be sick.


	3. Family Pot

The abandoned Brotherhood of Steel Bunker echoed with the soft voice from the radio. The gas that had filled the chamber had dispersed, leaving a faint mist near the floor. The dwindling fog revealed the shape of an unmoving robed body on the floor.

Veronica's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she sat up, coughing. She shook her head and rubbed her face, trying to clear her hazy mind. Something was wrong, but she couldn't think straight.

As her mind started to clear, she took stock of her surroundings. She was in the bunker she and Layla had discovered. The old radio was still on the little table, announcing the grand opening of the Sierra Madre. The scribe got to her feet, using the wall as a support. She patted her sides, finding all her gear where it should be.

Veronica looked to the radio, where Layla had been standing when the gas had hit. She was gone, but her chainsaw, Brutus, lay discarded nearby. The scribe felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Layla?" She called, and heard only an echo in response. She frantically searched the room, finding no other trace of her friend. She started down the hallway toward the exit and found a side passage. At the end was a computer terminal in front of a locked door.

She poked at the terminal, trying to get into the system. A few moments later, she had the door unlocked. Stepping in, she gaped at the set up. This was definitely a Brotherhood operation, a flag bearing the standard and a laser pistol on the desk confirmed as much. Beyond that, the room seemed familiar.

Veronica knew she had never been in this bunker before, but the tools and equipment that filled it she had seen before. When she approached a chemistry set, her heart skipped a beat.

"Father Elijah!" her question echoed in the empty room. She recognized the distinctive set-up of the chemistry set. A quick look at the other equipment in the room confirmed her suspicion. It was definitely his.

Searching the room further, Veronica found an odd-looking vending machine bearing the logo of the Sierra Madre Casino. She poked around with the machine a few moments, but it didn't divulge any secrets.

In another corner of the room was a computer. She tried to access it, but found that it was heavily encrypted, beyond even her ability to hack, definitely Elijah's work. She took one final look around the room. None of the chalk boards or books of notes held any answers. A final look through the entirety of the bunker produced no further clues or signs of Elijah or Layla.

Veronica only knew that Elijah had been here, alive, and recently. Had he set the gas trap? Why? What did the Sierra Madre have to do with this? And where was Layla?

She scavenged the place for anything useful, then strapped Brutus to her back and headed out of the bunker. It was a long walk to the Strip, but she was going to need help.

*.*.*

It was 2:30 in the morning when the elevator doors opened onto the Lucky 38's presidential suite. Veronica half-ran, half-stumbled into the hallway. She had come all the way from the bunker, making only a brief stop in Novac, but now that she had reached her destination, she was getting a second wind. She ran to the guest bedroom, hoping one of the others would be there. To her relief, she found Arcade Gannon asleep in one of the beds. She rushed over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking.

"Arcade! Arcade! Wake up!"

The blonde's eyes snapped open. "What! What? What's wrong?"

The scribe let him go and stood back, letting him sit up. He fumbled for his glasses, then looked at his attacker.

"Veronica, what's wrong?" Any annoyance he might have felt faded when he saw the look on the girl's face.

"Okay, this is bad, reallyreally bad, Wewereoutand-wegotthisradiosignaland-wewenttocheckitout-andIwokeupandshewasn'tthere," She stopped to take a breath, and Arcade put his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, slow down and start over. What happened?"

"What's going on?" Boone stood in the doorway, a half-eaten banana yucca fruit in his hand.

"It's Layla. We were checking out this radio signal that came up on her Pip-Boy, and it was a trap. We got gassed and when I woke up, she was gone."

"Gone?" Boone said in a tone that made Veronica wince. "Dead?"

"No! At least, I don't think so. She just wasn't there when I woke up. I think Father Elijah took her," Veronica said.

"Elijah…" Arcade repeated, trying to place the name. "The Brotherhood elder, the one who raised you?" Veronica looked sick as she nodded. "Why would he take her? How do you know it was him?"

"I recognized some of his things from the bunker." She hesitated, then sighed and continued. "There wasn't much to go on, just his equipment and a lot of graffiti and posters that mentioned the Sierra Madre. Maybe he took her there?"

"The Sierra Madre?" Arcade laughed. When Veronica scowled at him, he continued calmly. "The Sierra Madre doesn't exist. It's a myth. It'd be like saying he took her to Atlantis, or El Dorado, or Hawaii.

"It's just an old rumor traders used to spread around," he continued. "Something about a casino that never opened before the bombs dropped. It's supposed to be sealed shut and full of treasure. Only it's protected by ghosts and surrounded by a poisonous cloud that kills intruders."

"I'm only telling you what I saw," Veronica said, annoyed at Arcade's skepticism.

"Mythical ghost casino or no, she's definitely in trouble," said Boone, sounding just as tense as he looked. "We need to find her."

"Our only real lead is Elijah," said Arcade. "The Sierra Madre may or may not exist, but he does." He looked at Veronica. "Where should we start looking?"

"I don't know," the scribe said, chewing on a fingernail. "He disappeared after the battle at Helios One. Most everyone thought he was dead."

"Can't we ask someone at the Brotherhood?" Arcade asked. Veronica nodded absently.

"Yeah, I guess so, but what if he did find the Sierra Madre?"

"Then we'll find it," said Boone.

Veronica perked up suddenly. "If it does exist, I bet House would know about it. Not much that happens in the Mojave gets past him."

Arcade shrugged. "Sure, but House hasn't been very keen on talking with us."

"Then we'll make him listen." Boone's voice had an edge to it that made both his companions pause.

"We should probably try a non-burst-through-the-door-and-get-shot-by-securitron-approach first," Veronica said, chewing her fingernail again. "We probably wouldn't even get as far as knocking down the door…" she trailed off as the elevator opened and Victor rolled in.

"Victor!" the girl yelled as she rushed over to him.

"Hey there, little lady," Victor drawled. "What's got you up in a fluster?"

"Do you think Mr. House knows where the Sierra Madre is?" the scribe asked.

"Well, if it does exist, I reckon he might. Y'all going treasure hunting?"

"Not exactly," Veronica said, carefully sidestepping the issue at hand. None of them completely trusted House, and there was no reason to let him know just how screwed up everything was right now. "But it's important. Can you ask him for us?" she pleaded.

"You bet," the robot said, "I'll scoot up right now." He then headed back to the elevator.

"Are we going to wait for him?" Boone asked, sounding impatient.

"Who knows how long it'll take house to fit us into his busy schedule," Arcade said with a touch of sarcasm. "We should see what we can find out about this Elijah."

"Well…If we he doesn't come back with an answer soon, I guess we should head out…" said Veronica.

With that, the companions started gathering their things.

* * *

Thanks as always goes to my editor, who has helped me quite a bit lately. Thank you for reading and doubly to those who take the time to write a review.


	4. Scare Cards

Layla was sweating, despite feeling cold. She found it only slightly ironic, as the cause of her distress was the shaped explosive charge she was apparently sitting on. She thought she'd be used to being near dangerous explosives, considering one had been strapped to neck for a day. The ghoul sitting next to her was grinning, seemingly pleased with himself.

"If this thing goes off and kills me, you're next." Layla said, trying to sound calm.

The ghoul, Dean Domino, laughed. "While I have dealt with quite a few ghosts in my time, I've yet to see any outsiders rise from grave for vengeance. Unless you-"

"Our collars are linked," The Courier snapped. "If mine goes off, yours does too."

Dean's smug attitude faltered. "Ah. Well, that's a bit different. Looks like we both are victims of poor contract negotiation." The well-dressed ghoul sat back, appraising the girl. She was easy on the eyes, but didn't impress him otherwise. Her attempts to appear brave weren't awfully effective. At least she'd be easy to deal with.

"Well, it looks like marriage has finally caught up to me." He laughed at the face she made. "Well, Darling, what's the next step?"

"There's one more person we have to find. She's somewhere in the clinic."

"As heavenly as that sounds, I'm going to have to decline." he said dismissively.

"What? Come on, we need to get this over with."

"I'm aware of my obligations in this sordid affair, but I don't think you need me running into danger to play fetch with you. I'm aiming to minimize my personal risk, thank you."

"Fine. We'll drop you off at the fountain. It's safe there," The Courier answered. Dean smiled, satisfied with another victory over the girl.

"All right, shall we, Dear?" He stood, motioning her to do likewise. He noted her hesitation, but after a moment, she shot to her feet and started for the door without another word. As Layla walked out into the hallway, she found Dog waiting for them.

Dean jumped back when he caught sight of the super mutant, hand going for his gun.

"Wait! He's with us!" Layla yelped, holding her hands up. Dean looked furious, but didn't shoot.

"This is the cad who fitted me for my new bowtie," he said angrily.

Layla winced. "Same here. He's not to blame though. He works for our captor. As long as we cooperate, he's safe," she said, though she didn't entirely believe that herself.

Dog stood in the same place giving them a confused look.

"Dog hungry."

Layla paled considerably before collecting herself. "It's okay, we're heading back to the fountain to drop off Dean. Right?" She looked over to the ghoul and found him still glaring as he holstered his gun. He gave The Courier a wry grin.

"Already nagging, my dear? How soon the honeymoon ends. Very well." The ghoul holstered his gun, looking miffed. The group made their way toward the fountain.

*.*.*

"Your friend is charming," Dean Domino groused as Layla backed away from the super mutant, who was just finishing another meal of Ghost Person. She looked away under the guise of making sure there were no others in the area. Once the chewing noises subsided, she looked back.

Dog moved to follow the others away from the scene of their last fight. The Courier noticed, though, that his motions had become unsteady. He soon slowed to a stop.

"Are you okay?" Layla took a step towards the mutant. His muscles were twitching, and he was mumbling to himself.

"Dog?"

"No, Dog does what the Master says, won't listen to you," Dog said as he stooped and picked up the Ghost's discarded spear. Before the others could react, he raked it across his own chest, letting out a howl of pain.

"Dog! Stop it!" Layla started toward the mutant, but Dean caught her by the arm, holding her back.

"If he kills you, we're all screwed," the ghoul said.

"If he kills himself we're all screwed," she answered impatiently. Dean's answer was cut off by another scream from Dog as he cut himself again.

"Dog! DOG! Please stop!" Layla shouted at the mutant. She raised her pistol and shot a round into the air. The nightkin stopped and looked over, finally seeing her.

"Don't want to go back," he whimpered. Layla shook off Dean's hand and took a few steps towards the mutant.

"It's okay," she said soothingly, not quite sure what he meant. "We're just going back to the fountain. It's safe there." She got within reach of the mutant and took a look at his wounds. "Dog, why don't you let me wrap this. It's really deep."

"NO!"

The girl jumped back as the mutant shouted.

"Dog, please, the master wants you to be able to help me. You can't do that if you're dead." Layla tried to keep the pleading tone out of her voice, failing for the most part. Dog seemed to take heed of what she said, and his hands dropped to his sides.

"Master want Dog alive…" Layla nodded, and he smiled at her again. "Dog do what Master wants."

"What is this? You don't expect me to travel with this deranged monster?" Dean said testily.

Layla turned to the ghoul, glaring. "Listen, the guy in charge says he needs four people. If we don't all step up, he'll get rid of us and find someone else. So unless you want your neck to explode, let's just get this over with."

Dean gave her a poisonous look, but made no other complaint. Layla turned back to Dog without another word to the ghoul.

"Here Dog, let me give you a stimpak…" This time the nightkin allowed her to approach.

*.*.*

"It turned out neither girl was 'Domino' caliber…" Dean couldn't decide if he was amused or not at the girl's disgusted look. His stories had that effect on the weak of heart.

"You really are a gentleman." Layla's sarcasm grated on the ghoul's nerves. He turned her way, planning to put her in her place when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Dog was approaching, his face twitching again.

Just as Layla took notice, Dog stopped. A look of confusion crossed his face. He then burst forward, grabbing the girl by the front of her jumpsuit and lifting her off the ground.

"What-" Dead started to say before the super mutant casually backhanded him, knocking him to the ground a few feet away.

Layla grabbed at his huge hand, trying to free herself, but the fingers wouldn't budge. His free hand came up and grabbed her Pip-Boy. She could only watch as it thumbed through the files and brought up a recording.

"Dog, back in the cage."

The Courier watched in horror as Dog's face took on a new, but familiar, aspect.

"I told you not to play the recording," said God. "I told you what I would do to you. But you did it anyway. Why?" he slammed her back against a pillar, causing her to cry out. She tried to get air back in her lungs and speak at the same time, failing at both. She took another breath to try again, but was interrupted.

"What the devil is wrong with you?" Dean demanded. The ghoul was back on his feet, his pistol aimed at the super mutant. God barely spared him a glance, instead glaring hatefully at the Courier.

"I have a treacherous whelp to deal with." He gave the girl another shake.

"Well, we can agree on that," Dean said dryly. "But that doesn't change the matter. You kill her, and we're all going to have an explosive problem."

God was still glaring murderously at The Courier. "Perhaps I should just crush you now and end all our torment."

"Wait!" Layla said, finally getting her voice back. "Wait! None of us want to die. Just- look I played the tape because we were getting our asses beat. You said yourself Dog was a better fighter, so I let him out. Did you really want to get killed by those freaks because you wanted to be in control?"

The super mutant regarded her for a moment, still glaring. "If you ever do that again, I won't hesitate to break your bones and leave you to die."

"I may have to," she said, finally regaining some composure. "That won't be the last time we're in over our heads. We need Dog to get through this just as much as we need you."

God snorted. "You'll use us however you need to get what you want. You're no different than the old man."

"I'm just trying to keep us all alive. I won't let Dog get out of control, and I won't let him do anything terrible. Even if the old man orders him to, I can always bring you back."

The rage in God's face ebbed slightly. "And what if the Old Man threatens with his exploding collars, wanting you do something 'terrible'?"

Layla gave him a steady look. "Then we're going to have a much bigger problem than Dog." She felt the grip on her jumpsuit lessen. The nightkin lowered her to the ground, giving her a curious look. The girl noticed Dean hadn't put his gun away.

"We are going to have to work together whether we want to or not." She spoke to both of them, but looked at Dean. She then turned back to God. "And I think we've reached a compromise. No more surprises, right?"

"None from me. I can't guarantee anyone else," God said, and Dean finally lowered his pistol. The ghoul brushed at the dust on his shoulders, looking irritated.

"You certainly do marry the whole family, don't you?"


	5. Coffeehousing

The red-hazed fog was as thick as ever as Layla ran down the silent streets of the Villa. She was alone and hopelessly lost, abandoned by her new companions. Her heart raced as she ran. She knew she was just getting herself further lost, but she couldn't slow down now. Something was following her and getting closer.

She turned another corner in the maze of streets and skidded to a halt. The Cloud was thick and close to the ground. She had had to run through one of the dense pockets of deadly fog before. She knew the red haze wouldn't kill her right away, but it made her weak and useless in a fight.

She heard skittering movements behind her. That was the last thing she needed. She turned to see three Ghost People catching up to her. Her hand went to her hip and found her pistol missing. She must have dropped it during the chase. The first Ghost Person reached her and swung the knife-covered spear in its hands. She barely dodged in time, backpedaling and looking for a way out of the street. The Cloud blocked the way forward, and the way she had come was filled with Ghost people.

If only Veronica were here with her power fist, or Boone with his machete. Hell, she'd take Arcade with a head cold at this point. The thought of her friends gave her momentary courage. Then several hands grabbed her from behind, and all bravery was forgotten.

Looking behind her, Layla saw more Ghost People swarming out of the fog. She struggled, but the creatures easily overpowered her and dragged her into the red haze. She opened her mouth to scream, and the Cloud flowed in…

The Courier gasped for air as she sat up. She was no longer in the Cloud, but on a couch in a small office. She reached for her gun, finding it where she had stuck it between the cushions. Of course her first sleep since being brought here would be interrupted by nightmares.

"Keep it down, will you?" said Dean from a chair across the room. "Don't want the Ghost People dragging you off in your sleep, do you?" Layla shuddered. Of course he would say the worst thing possible for her nerves at the moment.

The girl looked at her Pip-Boy, noting she had only slept for two hours. "I'm done," she said groggily. "If you want to sleep, go ahead."

Dean shrugged and sauntered over to the couch as she got up. They were in one of the ghoul's 'safe houses,' not far from the fountain. She had badly needed sleep, and Dean had insisted on staying here until he was needed. They had agreed to keep watch for each other so they could get some rest.

Soon the ghoul was snoring away on the couch. Clearly he had no trouble sleeping here. Of course, he had been here a lot longer than she had. She walked over to the chair and collapsed in it. Fatigue dragged her eyelids down, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon.

She pulled her leg up and rested her chin on her knee, watching the door. It didn't take long for her thoughts to wander.

This whole situation wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the damn collar pinching at her neck. The irony was that if her captor had just asked her to check out the legendary Sierra Madre, she would have gladly signed up. She would have also brought her gear and her robot and her friends while she was at it. But Layla got the feeling he wouldn't have trusted her to do it her way. The old man definitely was not a people person.

She had a hard time believing the old man was going to just let them go once they had done what he asked. On top of that, both Dean and God had made passing mention of killing her once the collars were off. And she couldn't discount the possibility that Dog might just eat her.

Wrapping her arms around her leg, The Courier pulled it closer to her chest. If only Boone were here. She hadn't realized until now how much she relied on her companions, especially the moody sniper. She could explore the world and tinker with what she found in it when she knew Boone or any of her friends were watching her back. She could right wrongs and help the unfortunate, take chances she would never have considered before gathering her party.

Now Layla was in the middle of a nightmare, cut off from her friends and her gear and sure her current companions would kill her the moment they got the chance. She hadn't slept properly in days and she'd only eaten a can of pre-war beans she had immediately regretted. And the crown jewel, her neck was rigged to blow if she resisted the situation.

Layla stood and started pacing. She shook off her depression, admonishing herself for being so weak. She had managed to get herself out of bad situations long before she had ever set foot in the Mojave. If she ever wanted to see her sniper or her cyberdog or her chainsaw again, she'd have to do this herself. That meant she needed to stop sniveling and be prepared for the worst.

Just as she reached that decision, the door banged open and God walked in. Dean mumbled something vaguely threatening and buried his face in the couch cushions.

"I thought you needed sleep," the hulking figure said testily. Neither of the nightkin's personalities had been happy about stopping, but Layla had been desperate for rest.

She took a calming breath. She had allowed the mutant to intimidate her enough. She put her hands on her hips and faced him. "I got enough. Dean's sleeping now. Soon as he's done, we'll go."

The mutant grumbled something under his breath and looked at the girl thoughtfully. The Courier ignored his stare, choosing to give him an appraising look instead.

"So what's your story?" she asked, flopping back into the chair. "Dog had some choice things to say about you…" She expected God to threaten her, but instead he sighed heavily.

"I am trying to protect Dog."

"From who?" Layla hadn't expected a real answer, but she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get to know him better.

"From the Old Man, from himself. He does terrible things at the Old Man's request. He'll protect you just as soon as he'll pull your limbs from their sockets. Whatever he's told."

"Why does he resist you so much?"

The super mutant looked agitated. "He's used to following orders. First he followed the Master, and now he follows the Old Man. I tell him not to do the only thing he was ever comfortable doing, following orders. So he hurts himself to drown me out, tries to murder me out of him." God turned to the girl, a hollow, sad look on his face. "I try to show him reason and sanity, but he rejects it."

"Old habits are hard to break," Layla said, smirking despite herself. "But it can be done if you give it enough time."

"I certainly hope so."

Both grew quiet, contemplating each others words.

*.*.*

The Ghost Person in Dog's hands let out an ear-piercing screech as the nightkin snapped its neck. Dog dropped the body as another leaped onto his back, stabbing into his shoulder. The super mutant grabbed at the creature, managing to swing it off him by its legs. A sizeable group had ambushed Layla and Dog as they made their way toward the Medical Clinic.

Layla leveled her pistol at the nearest Ghost and fired three shots into its center of mass. She hadn't been caught unawares, as she had kept a careful eye on her Pip-Boy's motion sensor. But the monsters were still just as hard to kill. The last shot must have hit something vital, as the creature made an awful screeching noise and jerked, falling to the ground.

As it fell from her view, the girl saw another behind it, throwing spear already leaving its hand. Layla didn't have time to dodge, and the projectile imbedded itself into her shoulder, pinning her to the wall behind her.

The girl let out a choked scream as blood poured from the wound. The Ghost crept closer. Layla's nightmare came back to her and she wasn't able to hold back a sob as the creature got close enough to reach for the spear that trapped her.

Before it could do anything more, a blue fist collided with its face. Its neck cracked loudly, and it crumpled to the ground silently. Dog prodded the creature with his foot, then bent down to rip into it, stopping when he heard Layla cry out again. He looked at her in confusion.

"Pull it out," Layla said between gasps.

The super mutant cocked his head at her, gazing at the spear in her shoulder. "It will hurt."

The girl managed a very weak smile at the super mutant's words. "Can't hurt much more than this."

The nightkin shrugged and grabbed hold of the pole. Without warning, he ripped the spear out of the wall and her arm. The girl let out an agonized cry and collapsed to the ground. She looked up at the super mutant, who stared at her blankly. Blackness started to crowd her vision, and she tried to move her Pip-Boy to where she could see it. Her left arm wouldn't respond, so she dragged it over with her right. The fresh explosion of pain nearly overwhelmed her, but she forced her eyes to stay open.

*.*.*

Dog watched the girl fiddle with the machine on her arm, then heard the Voice and remembered nothing.

God looked down at the girl just as she slumped against the wall, unconscious. Seeing the dead Ghost, the gaping wound in the girl's shoulder and the knife spear still clutched in the super mutant's hand, it didn't take long to figure out what had happened.

He dropped the weapon and checked to see if the girl was still alive. She was still breathing shallowly, and the wound was still bleeding. God sighed loudly, then scanned the area for any further threats. The way to the clinic seemed clear, so he bent down and scooped up the girl.

The clinic had Auto-Docs. They would patch her up.

* * *

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day! Write a review and let me know how I'm doing. And thank you for reading (and those who did review!)


	6. Reverse Implied Odds

"All right, I just need to let them know we're here," Veronica said to her two companions as they stood at the entrance to the Hidden Valley bunker. She hesitated at the call button, then looked back to Arcade and Boone. "Remember, keep your allegiances to yourselves, okay? The Brotherhood isn't on good terms with the NCR or the Followers."

Both men nodded, and the scribe hit the button.

"Identify yourself," came the voice from the intercom.

"Journeyman Scribe Veronica Santangelo," she answered. "I need to speak to Elder McNamara. It's urgent."

"One moment." The intercom clicked off, and Veronica let out a sigh of relief. Then her eyes shot to Boone's First Recon beret just as the door started to open.

Paladin Summers opened the door to see Veronica grinning broadly, her hands behind her back. He eyed her two companions warily; the tall one in the lab coat looked harmless enough, but the shorter man running a hand over his bare head and giving Veronica an annoyed glare could be trouble.

"Getting into trouble again, Veronica?" the Paladin asked.

"No more than usual," the scribe answered, trying to keep the tension out of her voice. "These two are with me," she continued, noticing the wary look he was giving the others. "I'll vouch for them."

Summers ushered them in and soon they were standing in front of the Elder's desk. McNamara looked up from the data pad in his hand at Veronica. A cautious smile came to his face.

"Ah Veronica, did you find what you were looking for?"

The girl was caught off guard by the question, then suddenly remembered her last visit. Layla had promised the Elder they would find the technology Elijah had been researching before his disappearance, although the scribe wondered if she'd still want to. If they found her.

"Oh. No, we'll get to that later. I have news." She paused, and the Elder motioned her to continue. "Father Elijah is alive, and he's taken one of my friends. We need to find him."

The elder looked surprised, more so than Veronica had expected. He suddenly looked uncomfortable and glanced at her two companions.

"This is a sensitive internal matter," he said guardedly. "Perhaps your guests could wait in the hall."

Veronica sighed heavily and turned to Arcade and Boone. "I'm sorry, but if you find out our forbidden secrets, you'll have to be killed," she said sarcastically.

"It's no laughing matter," MacNamara said as he gestured to one of the door guards.

"Paladin Tenas, please see Veronica's guests to the first bunker. We won't be long here." Boone eyed Veronica as the Paladin moved to escort them out.

"It's okay," she answered his unspoken concern. "Really, we'll just be a few minutes." The sniper seemed to trust her word, and the two men allowed themselves to be led out of the room.

"You can wait in the training room," Tenas said as the door closed behind them. "Follow me."

As they wound their way through the bunker, watching the Brotherhood knights and paladins at their various duties, Arcade noticed Boone becoming increasingly tense. The blonde wondered how long it had been since the NCR drove the Brotherhood out of Helios One. Had Boone been at that battle?

They passed a group of paladins who gave them particularly dirty looks, which Boone returned. As they passed, one bumped the sniper's shoulder. He turned his head and glared, then seemed to think better of it and ignored them.

*.*.*

Lasers fired in quick succession, hitting their targets with varying degrees of accuracy and burning small holes where they struck. Arcade absently watched the men at the firing range as his mind wandered. He was struggling with an unpleasant truth, one he had been trying to ignore since this situation began. Layla was probably dead. Even if she wasn't, she was apparently in a place that didn't exist, held by a man who was supposed to be dead, a man who, if Veronica's description was accurate, considered people to be nuisances he was forced to deal with.

He thought highly of Layla, even if she often followed poorly laid plans. When she, Boone and Raul had come into the 38, covered in bandages, it hadn't taken long for the news of Caesar's death to break among the group. Arcade had been the one to question what exactly they had been doing there to begin with, but Boone and Raul refused to talk about it. It hadn't taken long for Layla to confess about her trip to Fortification Hill, much to the outrage of the rest of the group.

The Courier was a natural-born leader, who gathered followers by her compassion and good humor. She definitely had a knack for acquiring help in her hair-brained endeavors, which somehow always seemed to turn out in her favor.

She also seemed to have a knack for getting people to talk about themselves. She had solved many a personal crisis that way. Fortunately, maybe, she hadn't managed to get Arcade's secrets out of him. Not yet, anyway. It wasn't like he didn't want to tell her. He had thought about bringing it up himself, but fear of her reaction held him back. She had been steadily leaning further and further into the arms of the NCR. This didn't particularly bother Arcade; anything was better than the Legion, but it made him worry about her acceptance of other, more controversial groups.

It was starting to look like a moot point, however. Unless McNamara had the information they were looking for, and was willing to share it, they may never find Layla. The Sierra Madre wasn't supposed to exist, and even if it did, no one knew where it was. The Mojave was a large area, and they didn't even know if she was in it anymore. Or if she was still alive.

He wasn't ready to call it a lost cause, though, not yet. The doctor couldn't conceive of leaving the girl alone in a nightmarish, ghost-filled hellhole, urban legend or not. So he waited for Veronica, trying to catalog other venues they could pursue if the scribe couldn't get what they needed from the Brotherhood.

Four paladins entered the training room. Arcade recognized the group that had passed them in the hallway. He looked away, trying to avoid attention, but they were already heading toward him and Boone.

"Uh oh," Arcade said under his breath. He had hoped to say something to Boone about keeping calm, but the group had already reached them. One stepped forward, fixing a look at Arcade.

"Why is your friend glaring at me? Did I bump into him or something?" he looked at Boone, who was tensing. Arcade knew from his posture he was coiling to strike and stepped forward, waving his hands.

"All right, fellas, we'll be out of here soon. Probably any minute now. Not looking for trouble."

"Oh yeah? Well Cue Ball better cut the attitude." Arcade glanced at Boone. Normally the man was always in control of his temper, even if he came off as harsh. But he had been perpetually tense since they had found out Layla was missing. The blonde was afraid the younger man was too close to his snapping point to be pushed around. It probably didn't help that the paladin had drawn attention to his currently bare head.

*.*.*

Veronica stared at MacNamara, who hadn't spoken since Boone and Arcade were escorted out. He tapped at the console in front of him looking very interested at whatever it displayed, but the scribe could tell he was stalling, trying to come up with an answer. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, then looked up at the girl.

"We haven't had any new information about Elijah in a long time, and what little we do have is not your concern. I'm glad you brought this to my attention, but for now, concentrate on your own mission," the elder said briskly. Veronica gaped at him, not used to being dismissed so abruptly.

"Listen, you've got to let me know what you know. Layla's life is in danger!" MacNamara gave her a blank stare, and she scowled. "Layla, the girl I brought with me last time? She's a friend and I think Father Elijah kidnapped her."

"She's an outsider, and not the Brotherhood's concern. I'll consider this new information you've brought us, but I'm afraid I can't help you any more than that." His face softened. "What I do have won't help you anyway."

The scribe began opening her mouth, then clamped it shut. There was no talking to him when he'd made up his mind. She turned without a word and left the room, nearly knocking into Paladin Tenas in her rush.

"Uh, Veronica?" the Paladin said as they both stopped abruptly. "You might want to go collect your friends. I think Vargo and Jennings are trying to rile them up."

"Great." She hurried down the hall and into the training area. There she found Boone and Arcade surrounded by a group of Paladins. Arcade was obviously trying to diffuse the situation. Boone looked furious.

"I haven't got time for this, Vargo! Get out of here and find a 10-year-old to bully."

The Paladin turned to her. "You've got some nerve bringing this trash here, Veronica." The scribe glared at him, power fist starting to creak as she squeezed her hands into fists. The paladin seemed to notice the weapon.

"Let's get out of here," he said to the others. "This isn't worth our time." The paladins all gave the group dirty looks as they stalked away, and Veronica had to resist the urge to sucker punch one of them for good measure.

"Did you get anything from the Elder?" Arcade said once they were alone. Veronica found both men staring at her expectantly.

"No." She saw a mix of disappointment and annoyance cross her friends' faces. "Come on," she sighed. "Let's get out of here."

They left the bunker in a heavy silence. A mutual feeling of hopelessness slowed their steps.

"Now what?" Arcade finally said as they walked away from Hidden Valley's outer gate.

"The bunker she was taken from isn't far from Camp Forlorn Hope," Boone said, staring at the path before them. "Someone must have seen something. We can canvas the area, look for clues."

"That's going to take time," Veronica said, chewing her fingernails. "Let's see if House has an answer for us. The guy prides himself on knowing everything, right? He'll know where the Sierra Madre is."

Arcade sighed loudly, "And if he doesn't know? Or just doesn't want to talk to us?"

"Then… We'll try something else." She noticed Boone's sour look. "We'll check out the bunker."

Boone made no further argument as they started back for the Lucky 38.

*.*.*

Veronica had never seen a robot look uncomfortable, but that was the distinct impression she got from Victor as they met him at the door of the Presidential Suite.

"Hey there folks, how's the hunt going?"

"Badly," Veronica said. "Did Mr. House find anything for us?" Victor's face panel shifted to a frowning cowboy, and the girl knew she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"Mr. House wasn't too keen on lending any help to you folks. Was pretty adamant about it."

All three companions gaped at the robot's response. After a few moments of tense silence, Victor spoke again.

"Wish there was more I could do to help, but what the Boss says goes. Don't you worry about that little lady, though. I know she can handle herself." He quickly rolled toward the elevator before they could question him further. Veronica tried not to let her frustration form into tears. She shook the feeling away and looked to the others.

"Well, so much for that," Arcade said. "Now what?"

"We canvas the area around the bunker," Boone said, already moving to gather supplies. "We talk to everybody, look for anything unusual. There's got to be some sign of where she went."

Veronica frowned. "House has what we're looking for, I'm sure of it. Maybe I can access his computer system remotely."

"His systems are supposed to be incredibly advanced," Arcade responded. "The Followers have tried to hack them before and failed."

"What are you talking about?" said Boone. Veronica could hear the anger rising in his voice. "We agreed to try the bunker if House couldn't help us."

"He's got the information. We just need to get to it." Veronica's voice now had an edge to it that hadn't been there before.

"You don't know that," the sniper said flatly. "You don't know if you can hack into the system, or if there will even be anything to find if you do."

"And you don't know if you'll find anything at the bunker!" Veronica shot back. "I was there. There's nothing to find!"

"Calm down, both of you," Arcade said, getting the others' attention. "Let's face facts, we don't know where she is or if she's even alive. We may have to face the possibility that we're not getting her back."

Boone stiffened, then started for the door.

"What are you doing?" Veronica called after him.

"I'm through wasting time!" He kept his back to them as the elevator doors closed.


	7. Four to a Flush

I hear that Dead Money is up for our PC friends! Enjoy folks (I'm assuming PS3 is going to be up soon as well)!

* * *

Gray and cracked was the ceiling that greeted Layla when her eyes finally opened. She never liked sleeping in old, abandoned buildings. They always felt like despair and bad memories. But Boone usually insisted; more walls meant more cover, and a single entry point meant bottlenecking potential attackers.

She looked away from the ceiling, searching for the sniper. He didn't sleep nearly as much as Layla, but he needed to get some rest before they moved on. When she found she was on a hospital cot next to a headless corpse, she remember where she was again.

Memory of her last conscious moments sprang back into her mind, and she looked at her shoulder, which was now bandaged neatly. She sat up and gingerly moved the arm in it's socket. The sting of fresh stitches greeted her, and her bones all seemed to be where they belonged.

As gently as possible, she slid off the cot and looked around for her pack and meager supplies. Her bag was on the floor, along with the jumpsuit she had been wearing. Looking down, she noticed her state of near-undress for the first time. She fumbled around the dark room, stumbling over debris, and caught a shelf to steady herself. Under her hand was what felt like cloth and leather. She held it up for a better look. It appeared to be some kind of light-weight recon armor.

She almost smiled as she slipped into the suit. It fit like it was made for her. As she tightened the straps and fastened everything into place, she felt a sense of security she seemed to have lost since being brought to this place and stripped of all her possessions. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her things and peeked her head out of the room.

"Are you out here?" She heard heavy footfalls coming her way and ducked down, hands closing on her new police revolver. Her nightkin companion finally came into view, fixing her with an angry glare as he approached.

*.*.*

"Were you talking to me, or trying to get the Ghost People's attention?" God said as he spotted the girl hiding in the doorway with her pistol raised. The mutant noticed a definite change in her as she strode out of the room where he had left her. She moved easily in a new light armor, and he could see confidence that hadn't been there before. She walked up to him with an unguarded smile.

"I take it you got me patched up?"

God nodded, his annoyance dissipating. "We're in the medical clinic. It has several functioning Auto-Docs."

"Thank you." She rotated her shoulder again, wincing a little. "I guess I should have ducked."

The super mutant merely snorted at her comment as Layla looked down at her Pip-Boy, calling up the location of their last target. "All right, the last person should be just down this hall." She looked up at God. "Are there any radios here?"

"I had to turn off the main power to avoid it," God grumbled. The girl grinned at him.

"Good work. Let's go meet our new friend, shall we?"

*.*.*

They continued through the hallway, Layla keeping an eye on her motion sensor. She hoped this one didn't want to kill her. It would be a nice change of pace.

When they reached the door leading to their destination, Layla stopped and looked in. She was more than a little surprised to find herself in one of the Auto-Doc rooms. There was no one in sight. She looked to God, who shrugged.

As she stepped cautiously into the room, The Courier could hear sounds coming from inside the machine. There was a whirring of blades interrupted by a loud thump. The thumping sounded like a hand pounding on the wall of the metal enclosure.

"Something's wrong with it!" Layla tried to turn off the Auto-Doc, only to find that the machine had been heavily tampered with. The control panel was useless. Before she do could any more, God had already hooked his hands in the door and pulled. Layla grabbed the door beneath the nightkin's hands and pulled as well. After a moment of their combined efforts, the door snapped open and a body clattered out.

For a moment, Layla thought they had been too late. Then the body, a woman with a shaved head and a collar around her neck, shakily got to her feet. Both Layla and God took a step back, giving her space. She shook her head, leaning back against the machine for support, and finally noticed the others in the room. Opening her mouth to speak, the woman's eyes widened and her hand came to her throat.

"Are you okay?" Layla said cautiously. The woman looked at her with a mix of confusion and horror as she felt at the collar around her neck. She quickly found the latch and started prying. "Wait! Don't do that!"

The woman gave her a suspicious look, hands still on the collar. She seemed to notice the collars on the other two. She looked Layla in the eyes, waiting for an explanation.

"We'll get to that," said The Courier. "First, are you all right? What happened in there?"

The woman's eyes wandered back to the Auto-Doc, then shut with a pained expression. She touched her throat lightly, running her fingers along a fresh scar there. It was clear she was holding back tears.

"It… cut out your vocal chords?" Layla's face went pale. She had been in one of those…

The girl touched her collar again, giving the other woman a questioning look.

"It's an explosive collar. We're all linked," Layla gestured to herself and the nightkin. "If one of ours goes off, they all do. There's one other waiting for us. The man who put them on wants us to get him inside the casino, then he'll let us go."

The woman's eyes got hard and she shook her head, her finger cutting a line in the air between here and Layla. The Courier gave her a perplexed look.

"Listen, I'm sure none of us want to do this, but we don't have much choice. I'm really hoping we can just get this over with and get out of here."

The other woman frowned and cut the line between them again, then made binoculars with her hands and put them to her eyes. She then cut the line again and pointed at Layla.

"…You're looking for something, right?" The other woman nodded.

"All right then, we'll find that too. Just help me out for now."

The bald-headed woman sighed and eventually nodded. The brunette smiled.

"I'm Layla, this is God," she gestured to herself and the mutant. "Our other 'friend' is a charming ghoul named Dean. You may have seen his posters around. He's a real gem." She gave the other woman a careful look. "And you are?"

A frown creased the other woman's face and Layla almost slapped herself on the head. "Oh! If we could get something to write on… I think there was a pencil in the other -" She noticed the face the woman was making and stopped.

Layla watched as she made a motion like she was writing on her hand, then looked at it intently. She then looked up at the girl and shook her head.

"Oh…you can't read or write, huh?" The other woman nodded. She then held up two fingers, then made an 'x', then held two fingers up again, then four fingers.

"But you can do math? That's weird." Layla hadn't meant to say the last part, but had suddenly noticed more scars on the woman's head. Following The Courier's gaze, the woman reached up and touched the scars.

"Do you know who did this?" Layla asked.

The woman nodded, her eyes going hard. She made the binoculars with her hands again and then using her thumb, cut a line across her throat.

"You want revenge." The woman nodded. An uncomfortable silence hung between them.

"Well, why don't we head back," The Courier said finally. "The sooner we get this over with, the better." The other woman nodded.

*.*.*

"There you are, my dear. I was so worried about you." Layla heard Dean before she saw him. Her newest companion raised an eyebrow at her. Just as she was about to answer, the ghoul in question came into view around the corner of the street.

"This is Dean," she gestured half-heartedly at the ghoul. "This is…" she hesitated and found the other woman give her a pained look, "our newest recruit." The singer gave the newcomer a glance, then seemed to dismiss her, looking at Layla again.

"Well, we're all here. Shouldn't we check in with the man in charge?"

"I suppose," Layla glanced at her other companions; God gave her an impatient look, and the girl hadn't left her side. She stood in front of the fountain's hologram display and waited for the old man to show up.

"You've got them all. Good," the man's voice abruptly sounded from the speakers. Layla looked up at the image of her captor, trying to keep the sneer from her face.

"Yeah, let's get this over with so we can go home." Layla found she couldn't keep the sneer out of her tone. She could feel her companion's eyes on her as she spoke, all but the new woman. Her eyes were fixed intently on the image of their captor and burning with rage.

"Very well," the old man continued, ignoring the hostile glare. "Let's talk about each of your parts in this. To open the doors to the casino, the Gala Event has to be triggered. I would have done this on my own, but it takes four people in four different places. The locations are on your Pip-Boy. Once you are each in place, we'll trigger the Gala."

"Got it all figured out, eh Elijah?" Dean said, sarcasm evident in his voice. "Must be hard to play puppet master from inside-"

"Get to your stations. I'm running out of patience, and you're running out of time," the old man cut him off before he could finish. Layla frowned, then gasped.

"Wait, Elijah?" She looked back up at the hologram, noticing for the first time the Brotherhood of Steel scribe robe. "You're Elijah? Veronica's Elijah?"

There was no answer for a few moments. "That's not important right now. Do as I've said and you'll all be able to go free."

With that, the image cut off, replaced by the woman in the rose-adorned dress that normally decorated the fountain.

"Well, that's going to be a load of fun," Dean said, but Layla barely noticed. She was trying to rectify in her head what she had just learned. The missing Brotherhood Elder and the man who practically raised Veronica was the same man who had kidnapped her and strapped an explosive collar around her neck. Lost in thought, it took her a moment to notice the bald woman staring at her.

Before Layla could say anything, the woman pointed at her, then the hologram.

"I don't know him," Layla answered. "I only know what I was told by someone who knew him."

The other woman made a rolling motion with her fingers. Layla gave her a confused look.

"What? I don't know all that much. He was a Brotherhood of Steel elder, disappeared after Helios One, Veronica only got one or two more messages from him and that was it." When she mentioned Veronica, the bald woman gestured insistently.

"Veronica? What about her?" The Courier blinked. "Wait, do you know her too?" The woman nodded. She pointed at the fountain and held her fists up, both close together, then pulled them apart.

"He separated you?" She thought a moment, then gasped loudly, "You're _Christine?"_

The bald woman merely smiled and Layla shook her head, amazed. "You're her old girlfriend?" The woman nodded, the Courier meant to ask more when Dean interrupted her.

"Are we going to start this foolishness or listen to you play charades?" the ghoul said testily. Layla sighed.

"You're right, let's get this over with."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Leave a review and let me know how I'm doing (all's quiet lately). I hope they announce the next DLC soon, I'm dying here!


	8. Check Raise

You know what? Sometimes you wonder if people are enjoying what you do, then you get a bunch of really nice reviews. Thanks folks :3

* * *

"Don't want to go in there."

Layla turned to look at Dog, noting the super mutant had stopped a few feet from the gate she had stepped through. Further into the enclosure was a set of switches and a diagram; this was the switching station Elijah wanted the nightkin to activate.

"What's wrong?" The Courier frowned. She moved further in, hoping her companion would follow her. He gave her a sad look and didn't budge.

"Like cage, Dog doesn't want to go in there."

"Well, this is where the switches are, and if we do like the Master says, we can start the Gala event and finish this."

"Don't want to go in there," Dog whined sadly. Layla walked back over to him. She chewed her lip and looked at the mutant, thinking.

"Listen, you don't like it here because it looks like a cage, right?"

"Don't want lights and Ghosts either."

Layla gave him a confused look. "I don't follow."

"Master had Dog pull switches before, made lights and sounds. Ghosts everywhere."

"He triggered the event before?" Dog nodded. The Courier went back to chewing her lip. Dean had hinted that Elijah was inside the casino, something she had suspected herself. That would explain some things.

"Well, we don't have much choice… But what if you let the voice come out? He wouldn't mind it here so much, and he could throw the switches for you. Just like the Master wants."

Dog contemplated this suggestion, clearly torn. Layla took another step and laid a hand on the nightkin's arm. "I know you want to do what the Master wants, but what do you want?"

That seemed to confuse Dog further. He stared at the gate for a few moments, then looked down at the girl.

"Dog will listen to the voice. Dog doesn't want to go in there."

Layla didn't smile, but patted the super mutant's arm. "Thank you." She called up God's recording on her Pip-Boy and played it. The nightkin's posture changed. He looked around the area, examining the gate and switches.

"So, here we are," said God. "And it's even a cage." He leveled a mildly suspicious look at the girl. "Let me guess, Dog didn't want to go in?"

"He was afraid. I'm not sure he'd be able to work the switches anyway. Can you?"

The nightkin walked into the cage, looking over the diagram next to the row of switches. He turned back to the girl, frowning.

"No. I want no part of this."

Layla sighed. "Neither do I, but we don't have much of a choice, do we?" She studied his face; he looked agitated. "Dog didn't want to do this, but I trust you."

"Trust?" he laughed, "Let's be more honest. This is mutual interest." He seemed taken aback by the mildly hurt look the girl gave him.

"I thought we'd come further than this." She shrugged, looking away. She turned back after a moment. "Look, I could get Dog to do this. I could order him to go in there and talk him through the diagram, but I don't want to. I do trust you." The super mutant looked at her for a moment, then sighed.

"Very well, I will throw the switches when the time is right."

"Thank you."

*.*.*

Layla poured over the notes she had found on a computer in one of the Puesta Del Sol apartments. Her suspicions about the fall of the Sierra Madre were starting to come together. Between the shoddy workmanship, the strange gas that would become the Cloud, and what looked to be a saboteur, The Courier had a good idea of what had happened.

She saw Dean come into the room, looking impatient. The girl quickly switched off the computer and stood.

"All right, let's get up on the roof," Layla said. "I think we can circumvent the courtyard that way."

"Sounds ducky. Lead on."

Soon they came to a pair of wires that had been cut. Both were sparking on the ground. Layla double checked the map marker on her Pip-Boy. This was definitely the spot.

"All right, I think when the time comes, you just need to complete the circuit." She turned to find Dean giving her an incredulous look.

"And how am I going to do that?"

"I don't know, grab both ends and smile. You'll think of something, I'm sure."

"You don't really think I'm going to sit around here when this shebang goes down. The Villa is going to fill with Ghost People. There's nothing more the savages like better than noise and light."

The Courier looked around. She couldn't deny this was a terrible place to be standing if a group happened by. She looked around the courtyard below them and grinned.

"All right, give me a minute. I have an idea."

Dean watched as the girl dropped down to the courtyard, taking obvious note of the holographic emitters on the walls. She disappeared into one of the buildings. After a few moments, one of the emitters came to life, and a holographic guard stood on the cobblestones.

When the girl didn't resurface, the ghoul started getting the unpleasant thought she might have run afoul of a few wayward Ghost People. Just as he was preparing to search for her, the other emitter lit up. Now two security holograms patrolled the courtyard.

Layla still didn't surface, and Dean had to wonder again what was happening.

"There!"

The ghoul jumped as the girl came up the stairs. She looked particularly pleased with herself. "Now you're covered. Nothing's going to be able to reach you without going through two unkillable holograms. Happy?"

Dean snorted. "I suppose." He gave the girl an appraising look. She had surprised him in the end. Somewhere in the Villa she had found her backbone and had proved competent and intelligent. If only it wasn't for that mouth, she might have proved 'Domino caliber.'

"All right, just wait for the signal, throw the switch, wait for the chaos to die down, and we'll meet at the casino."

"Very well." Dean had no intention of waiting for the others, but he needed to play along for now. The girl gave him a look of barely masked suspicion. That was another problem with her; she was a little too clever for his tastes. He kind of woman certainly didn't go prying into things they didn't need to know.

Layla stared for only a moment more, then shrugged. "All right, I'll give the signal when everyone's in place. Good Luck."

Dean didn't reply.

*.*.*

Christine looked at Layla as she slowly crept around a corner into the switching station control room. If she could get to the terminal that controlled the radio blocking their way, they could make it to the basement.

A few moments after she passed out of sight, a loud bang sounded from the room, and Christine heard a cry. The woman ran into the room, steeling herself for what she'd see.

Layla was on the ground, bleeding from her forehead. Christine wasn't too concerned, as the girl was distractedly holding a piece of cloth against he wound while thumbing through a copy of Deans Electronics. She looked up to see her companion crossing her arms over her chest.

"What? These are really hard to find." The Courier ignored the cross look from the other woman. "Wha- Oh, the explosion?" She pointed to the remains of a body on the floor. "He was here when I got here, took most of the damage, but a chunk of metal got me," she said, indicating the cut on her forehead. She happily tucked the book into her bag and stood, grinning.

"All right, the main room should be easy to get to now."

Christine slowly shook her head in amazement as the girl sauntered out.

*.*.*

"Let me go see what's in there," Layla said, eyeing door to the remote control station. The elevator was fairly tiny, and she had a bad feeling about it. She looked over to Christine, who looked even less happy about it.

Stepping into the cramped elevator car, she pressed the next level's button. A moment later, the doors opened. The room she stepped out into was barely large enough for her to fit in. She brought her Pip-Boy up to her face with some difficulty. This was the place. Looking around the room, Layla suddenly jumped as a whirring noise came from somewhere within the machinery. The place looked almost exactly like the interior of a Auto-Doc.

She came out of the elevator to find Christine looking at her anxiously.

"Yeah, absolutely not. Let's see if we can't access the controls from another terminal."

The Brotherhood Scribe nodded, glancing timidly at the elevator.

A terminal in the small adjacent control room hummed to life as Layla sat at the desk. After a little poking around, Layla found they could indeed access the controls they needed from this station. She keyed in the passwords she had recovered earlier and grinned broadly at Christine.

"All right, you can work the controls from right here." The other woman smiled back. "Are you going to be okay?" She saw Christine's smile fade as she looked around nervously.

"Hey, it's going to be all right." She held out her hand, which Christine took and squeezed. "Just book out of here as soon as your done and get to the casino. Both Dog and Dean mentioned there's going to be a lot of Ghost People, so be careful."

Christine nodded, smiling a little, then pointed to her.

"Me? I'm always careful."

*.*.*

Layla watched the Gala fireworks with a smile. She knew that pre-war people had a love for them, and she could see why. When they got into the casino, she was going to have to see if there weren't any spares she could smuggle back home.

As a particularly large burst caught her attention, she watched the trail of light as it cascaded down to the streets of the Villa. The girl nearly shrieked when she saw the area below her. It looked like dozens, if not scores of ghost people now flooded the street. The path she needed to take was choked with the creatures, who were violently gesturing at the fireworks.

She stared for another moment, then gauged the quickest way to the casino's doors from where she was. She looked at the writhing mass of Ghost People one last time, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The Courier let out the breath and opened her eyes, hitting the button on the lift.

When the car stopped, she leapt out, taking off at a dead run for the exit. As she reached it, a Ghost Person emerged from the corner of the room, already swinging its spear. Layla dove forward, rolling under the weapon. She had hoped to gracefully come to her feet, but instead rolled into a wall.

Barely giving herself a chance to recover, she dove to her side and jabbed an elbow into the ground, levering herself up. There were three Ghost people in this room, all moving in her direction. The Courier drew her pistol and fired at the closest. The round hit the creature's mask. It took a step back, but didn't seem harmed. She didn't stick around to find out, instead running full speed to the doorway, which led outside to a set of stairs.

Two more Ghost People came in through the doorway, blocking her path. Layla kept moving forward, pumping her legs as hard as she could move them. She crashed into the Ghosts, and they all went out of the door and over the railing of the stairs.

Layla managed to land on top of the pile of bodies, but felt an explosion of pain in her leg. She ignored it, hoping adrenalin would keep her going as she scrambled to her feet. A ghost charged her as she stood. She took its head off with a lucky shot and kept running.

Fireworks exploded overhead, illuminating the Villa as The Courier careened down the path. She completely ignored the scores of Ghost People who writhed in the streets as she passed. Those who noticed her gave chase. She felt a throwing spear tear into her side but ignored it as she continued at top speed down the road.

Soon she could see the gates of the Sierra Madre and four Ghost People blocking her way. She knew if she stopped to fight them, the ones behind her would catch up. Layla quickly looked around the area, still pumping her legs. She spotted a fuel tank on the ground near the body of a Ghost.

Not stopping to think, The Courier grabbed the tank as she ran past. She then spun for momentum and released the tank in the direction of the gate. Only then did she stop long enough to shoot a round from her pistol at the tank. The resulting explosion immolated the Ghosts and collapsed the gate.

Hearing sounds of pursuit from behind, Layla took a flying leap over the fire and crashed into the door of the casino. She ripped at the handle and spilled into the lobby. Turning quickly, she kicked the door closed, hoping it would deter any other Ghosts.

The Courier picked herself off the ground and tried to catch her breath. She was amazed she had made it to the casino in one piece. And of course no one had been around to see how awesome she had been. Turning with a smile, she noticed her new companions sprawled on the floor as gas started pouring from the vents below her.

"You've got to be kidding me," was all she managed before consciousness slipped away.


	9. Card Dead

Veronica was stabbing the keyboard angrily with her fingers. She was trying to access the Lucky 38's network from a computer in the cashier's office of the casino. So far, her efforts weren't turning up anything useful, but it was Boone's departure that had led to her current violent mood.

"How's it going?" Arcade resurfaced and offered the scribe a bottle of water, which she waved away.

"How could he run off like that? We need to work together or we're never going to find Layla." Veronica flexed her power fist, which creaked angrily at her.

"We're all stressed out, and he doesn't sit still in times of crisis." The doctor noticed Veronica's continued grimace and smiled at her. "Did you really think Boone was going to be much help recoding security software? He might turn something up on his own anyway."

Veronica's face softened and she nodded, trying once more to bypass the encryption. She sighed as she was locked out of the system. "Well, this one's fried… I _know _what we're looking for is in here somewhere. But how the hell are we going to get to it?"

Arcade looked thoughtful for a moment. "I may know someone who can help."

*.*.*

"Sierra Madre? Isn't that the casino full of monsters and old world gold? Sorry son, I don't have a clue." The King studied the man before him. Frustration seemed to seep from every pore.

Boone sighed heavily. "Thanks." He started to walk away, but the gang leader called after him.

"Where's Layla?" he asked. The King had never seen the sniper without her. He had a weak spot for the Courier, something Pacer never failed to mention when the subject came up. The younger man froze in his tracks, hands balling into fists.

"Missing," Boone answered. That hadn't been what The King was expecting. Suddenly the frustration and the tension made sense. "My last lead is the Sierra Madre."

"Wish I could help you there. As far as I know, that place doesn't exist." The gang leader hadn't meant to put it so bluntly. Boone looked back at him, his frown deepening further.

"Sure seems that way."

"Come on, don't look so blue." The King grinned at the younger man, then called over to his dog.

"Rexie!" The cyberdog leapt to his feet and padded over, tail wagging. "You're gonna go with Boone, go find Layla." The dog bounded over to the sniper. The King noticed the younger man's beret and frowned, waiting for Rex's outburst. The dog merely barked happily.

"Huh, I thought you hated hats, boy?" The King said, marveling that the dog hadn't growled at Boone.

The sniper nearly cracked a smile. "Layla convinced him a beret wasn't a hat." He scratched the dog behind the ear. "Thanks," he said to The King.

The gang leader waved him off. "Just go get her back. Things'll be too quiet around here without her."

"I will."

*.*.*

"You're fucking kidding me." Cachino figured by the face the kid was giving him that he wasn't. It didn't change matters. "No. I don't fucking know where the god damned Sierra Madre is. Why are you even asking me?"

Boone sat across from the Gomorrah's new casino boss, feeling the last trickle of his patience fading away, "You have contacts. Use them," he said tersely.

Cachino leaned back in his chair. "What's this worth to you?"

"We got you here, you owe us." The sniper's tone was getting dangerous. The older man pressed a button under the surface of his desk and leaned forward.

"Where is that little firecracker anyway? I'm starting to see why she always did the talking."

That didn't seem to calm the sniper down. Before he was able to say anything, three Omerta bouncers burst into the room.

"Ah, your escorts." Cachino grinned at the younger man, who had jumped to his feet. "Our business is finished. Why don't you just go on home?"

Boone thought about flattening the little worm, but it wouldn't do Layla any good to get himself killed. Instead he stood and left, not bothering to wait for the goons to follow.

Rex barked happily as the sniper stepped out of the casino. Boone took a few long breaths; this had been a waste of time. He gave the Lucky 38 a look before heading out of the city.

*.*.*

Veronica carefully rerouted wires into the small black box Emily Ortal had provided. According to the scientist, the Followers of the Apocalypse had been trying to get into House's network for a while. They had even considered asking The Courier for help. This little black box was their latest development, and Veronica was sure they had found the answer.

Once she got the wiring in place, the screen went blank.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Arcade said, looking over the scribe's shoulder.

"I'm not - Oh wait, it's rebooting." The screen came online again, and a simple prompt greeted them.

"Is that good?" Veronica frowned at the doctor's tone.

"I sure hope so," She started typing, hoping she'd be able to get access to a map or a search function. She cursed under her breath. This wasn't her field of expertise. She knew Arcade was a step below her on computers. It was Layla who had a knack for them. Veronica had seen the girl reprogram turrets to attack their enemies and laugh at computerized locks before quickly disabling them.

She wasn't here, and Veronica felt like it was her fault. She should have been more careful in the bunker. She should have pieced together what was happening sooner. She should have reacted faster to the gas trap. Veronica knew if the Courier could have heard her beat herself up about what had happened, or known that she felt responsible because Father Elijah had been the one to cause this, she would hit her.

It didn't make the gnawing guilt lessen. When Layla had waltzed up to her at the 188 trading post, Veronica knew she had found the perfect traveling companion. The girl just looked like the type who got into a lot of interesting trouble. The scribe hadn't been prepared for how right she was, or how dear a friend the girl would turn out to be.

Now she was missing, and Veronica wouldn't stop until she found out what had happened to her and put it right. She didn't have time to contemplate exactly what that could entail before the screen went blank again and the electrical box sparked. When it restarted this time, the original prompt was back, and the box was smoking.

"Oh. That doesn't look good," Arcade said. "Do you think you can fix it?" The scribe pulled the box away and surveyed the damage. Acrid, black smoke puffed from the device, which, under further inspection was clearly destroyed. Veronica had to keep herself from crushing the box in her mechanically-enhanced fist.

Arcade let out a sigh. "All right, we can always…"

Veronica looked up when the doctor trailed off to see Victor standing behind them.

"Now what in tarnation are you folks up to?" The robot demanded, a cross look displayed on its face monitor.


	10. Perfect Perfect

Veronica hid the smoking box behind her back and attempted to smile as Victor stood in front of them, mechanical arms folded..

"Look, Victor, we…" She trailed off as the robot moved past her to the computer. He took a look at the monitor and whistled.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a technical problem there. You know, the boss man would be mighty steamed if he knew you two were up here." Both Veronica and Arcade winced, not sure of what to do. Arcade eyed Victor's gatling laser nervously.

"Well, scoot over. Let me take a gander." Perplexed, Veronica moved to the side, allowing the robot to approach the computer. He punched in a few keys, and the screen changed.

"Well, that ought to do it," the robot cowboy drawled as he moved away from the monitor. "Just be sure to put everything back the way you found it." Veronica took a look at the computer as Victor rolled away.

"Well?" asked Arcade.

"It's here! A database entry on the Sierra Madre.""How much is there?"

"Everything! Well, everything pre-war. Location, floor plans, a list of guests…"

Arcade turned to the departing securitron. "But House refused to help us…"

Victor turned, his screen flickering to a winking cowboy face. "You let me handle that. Don't worry, old Victor can take care of himself."

*.*.*

"Well, look who it is." Lieutenant Gorobets smiled as Craig Boone approached him with a cyberdog in tow, but strangely no Courier. The young man had once been part of 1st Recon, under his command, and he was always happy to see him. Gorobets had never heard the whole story of what had happened to him after his honorable discharge, but the next time he had seen him, the man looked like a ghost of himself. It had been in the recent months, as he traveled with Layla, that he had started acting like himself again.

Now, however, Boone looked lost again, lost, angry, and desperate. Corporal Sterling and Bitter-Root stopped their conversation nearby as Boone approached.

"I need your help," the sniper said, and 1st Recon gathered around him to hear what was wrong.

*.*.*

1st Recon usually had a certain degree of latitude when it came to orders. They were often given only a location to scout or a target to eliminate, and the squad leaders were free to come up with the details. There were always exceptions. The Battle for the Hoover Dam had definitely been one of those, as their orders had been crystal clear.

Currently, they were stationed at Camp Forlorn Hope awaiting further orders. The war with Caesar's Legion was coming to a head soon, and Colonel Moore wanted them near the Dam when it happened. In the meantime, they occupied themselves with short recon missions, scouting up and down the river for Legion incursions. Things had been relatively quiet since Cottonwood Cove was taken out. Layla and her companions had been responsible for that, and now 1st Recon was in the perfect position to return the favor.

Lt. Gorobets and 10 of Spades were on their way back to the camp from Nelson. The trip hadn't been very fruitful. The only unusual reports were of a lone nightkin in the area. Gorobets had sent Bitter-Root and Sterling to Novac to speak with any traders who had passed through the area. They were one soldier short with Betsy on medical leave.

Gorobets had suggested Boone travel with him and Spades, as Legion ambushes weren't uncommon in the area, but he had refused. The Lieutenant wasn't very worried about the man; he could handle himself. He had been with 1st Recon at the battle for the Hoover Damn. At twenty-two, he had proven himself along with the rest of the battalion when they held their ground against the Legion onslaught.

"Do you think the S-S-Sierra Madre exists?" 10 of Spades asked suddenly. He had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the trip.

"If you had asked me a week ago, I'd have told you no. I'm not so sure now."

They reached Forlorn Hope and found Sterling and Bitter-Root waiting for them.

"Find anything?" the Lieutenant asked.

Sterling shrugged. "Not much, sir. The merchants in the area hadn't been around here lately. Nightkin sightings, otherwise nothing. Ever since Caesar got hit, it's been quiet from even Legion attacks."

Gorobets nodded, thinking. At first, he had suspected Layla had been kidnapped by the Legion in retaliation for her part in Caesar's death. Two things didn't add up to that theory, however. First, another girl that had been caught in the same trap with her was left unharmed. That wasn't exactly the Legion's M.O. Secondly, if those bastards had gotten hold of the Courier, they would have gone out of their way to let everyone, especially the NCR, know it was them.

His thoughts were interrupted as Boone and his cyberdog rejoined the group. Soon they had all compared notes, and only one common factor came up. A nightkin had been seen in the area by several people around the time of Layla's disappearance.

"Nightkin are rare in this area but not unheard of," Sterling said. "We're not that far from Black Mountain."

"There was one killing Brahmin in Novac a few months ago," said Boone.

"I've never heard of nightkin kidnapping people…" Bitter-Root said. "It's probably unrelated."

"The timing fits, though," Sterling said thoughtfully. "And it could have been taking orders from someone else. Nightkin tend to attach themselves to powerful leaders."

"It's the best lead so far," Gorobets said, looking apologetically towards Boone. "Nothing on the Sierra Madre, though. We'll keep searching, maybe try to find this nightkin, but there's not much else we can do here."

Boone nodded. "Thanks. I'm going to try to find that bunker, take a look around. I'll check back with you tonight."

*.*.*

The abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker was just a dank as Veronica had described it. As his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, Boone caught sight of a headless corpse on the floor. He made himself take a closer look, feeling strangely reluctant. He was relieved to discover the body was male, and had been dead for over a week.

Continuing down the stairs, he found the hallway that led to the radio and the trap. Instead of heading that way, he went down a short side passage to the right leading to a room with various scientific equipment. This must have been Elijah's room, as Veronica described it. He immediately spotted something that seemed out of place, a stack of packages under a drop box, all neatly wrapped and far too clean to have been here for long. Boone made his way over, keeping an eye out for further traps.

The packages were wrapped in a cream colored paper, emblazoned with a logo which clearly read 'Sierra Madre." Boone picked up one of the smaller boxes and tore the paper, revealing a plain cardboard box. Inside he found a card.

"_Thank you for visiting the Sierra Madre! All foreign personal items have been shipped to this location as per our 'Visitor's Agreement.' Our automated system has delivered your items at the predetermined location you specified at check-in!"_

Under the card was the engraved revolver Boone had given Layla for Christmas. The sniper stared at the gun for a few moments, turning over in his head what this all meant. The Sierra Madre did exist, Layla had been taken there, and she had been stripped of her weapons. He started opening the other boxes and found all of the Courier's guns, medical equipment, food, stimpaks, the duct tape for 'emergencies' and the white, flower printed dress she kept rolled up in her bag for 'real emergencies.' Everything she carried on her when traveling was wrapped up in these boxes.

He opened the last box, tearing the paper off and dropping it on the pile he had left from its predecessors. He stared at the contents for a few moments; it was the 1st Recon beret he had given Layla the night he had decided to travel with her. He had wondered what had happened to it. She had told him she wasn't a 'hat person' and she felt weird wearing something she hadn't earned. She apparently had been carrying it on her the whole time.

Staring at the hat, Boone thought back to when he had first met Layla. He had been at the lowest point of his life when the Courier walked into Novac. He had been friendless and alone, and once his wife's betrayer had been killed, he had nothing to live for. Had she not asked him to join her at that point, Boone knew he'd have been dead by now, gunned down or hanging from a Legion cross.

Now he had a purpose, a group of close friends, and a will to live. Boone refused to think the girl was dead. She was just out of reach at the moment. The thought of Layla, alone and frightened, thinking no one would come for her, made him uncomfortable in a way he didn't fully understand. He wasn't sure how to deal with it at first, then just let it harden his resolve to find her.

Boone pulled the hat out of the box and felt something fall out. Reaching back in, he pulled out the Platinum Chip. He looked at it for a long moment, then felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. House would have to listen to them now, and if he had the information, he'd give it to them. If not, Boone would threaten to smash the thing into dust.

He wasn't foolish enough to take the chip directly to House to make his demands, so instead he cataloged potential hiding places. Anywhere on The Strip was out. Freeside was too close as well. There was always the hollowed out tooth in Dinky's mouth in Novac, or he could leave it with Marcus in Jacob's Town.

As he started to form an idea, he heard Rex barking from the entrance. Boone stowed the chip in his pocket, then closed the door on Elijah's room, which now held all of Layla's belongings. Drawing his machete, he headed in the direction of the barking dog.

"Rex? What are you doing here?" Boone sheathed his weapon when he heard Veronica's voice, then stepped into view.

"There you are," Arcade said. There was an awkward silence for a moment, and Boone was just about to reveal his discovery when Veronica spoke up.

"We got the Sierra Madre coordinates from House's computer."

"Good," Boone said. There was no point in arguing the matter further. "Let's go."

Soon, after a brief stop at Forlorn Hope, they were on their way. Boone could feel the tension between the group. He couldn't tell if they were still mad at him, if he was still mad at them, or if it was just awkward because no one was speaking. None of it mattered. Now that they had the location, they'd get Layla back. And make whoever had taken her pay.


	11. Bad Beat Story

Layla had no pleasant misconception of where she was when she woke this time. The crushing pain in her right leg roused her, and she instantly remembered what had happened. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor of the Sierra Madre's lobby. She was alone.

Groaning, she sat up and took a look at her leg, hoping the damage from her fall wasn't too terrible. Judging by the fact that her shin was twice it's normal size, and the incredible amount of pain she was in, it was probably fractured.

"Oh, that's just great." She started going through her bag for something to use as a splint. She didn't have a doctor's bag, and using a stimpak in this condition could fuse the bone incorrectly. Soon she had tied the splint in place and used a counter to climb to her feet. The Courier closed her eyes and gingerly took a step.

The leg buckled under her and she crashed to the ground. "OH FUCK! Fuck me in the fucking fuck! ASS!" Layla continued spewing swears as she pulled herself up again. She adjusted the splint, tying it as tight as she could and opened her bag again. Pulling out a bottle of whiskey, she toasted Cass silently and took a pull, sputtering as it burned the whole way down.

Layla took a deep breath and another step. The splint seemed to work better, though it may have been the whiskey. Either way, she could walk, slowly and awkwardly, but walk nonetheless.

"Is that you? Are you here?"

The Courier nearly fell again as Elijah's voice came over her Pip-Boy.

"Yeah, hi. I'm thrilled to hear from you," the girl answered sourly. "Where is everyone?"

"The casino's security has activated. More than likely it's moved the others to different areas, wherever it thought necessary. You're going to need to get the power back on.""Wonderful. How?"

*.*.*

There was a loud hum as the lights of the casino flickered on. Layla noted more holograms coming online and hunkered down further, peeking through the maintenance door's window.

"Good! The casino's coming to life," Elijah's voice startled her. "This place is quiet, cleansed of the people in it. Like the Mojave should be." Layla looked at her Pip-Boy, horrified as Elijah continued.

"The shops are coming online, and the security has turned off. You might be able to find something that will help you. When you're done, go back to the lobby and we can discuss the next step."

His voice vanished from her wrist. The Courier frowned. She shouldn't dawdle… but she was curious about the hologram giving her a blank smile from the blackjack table.

Later, much later than she realized as she looked at her Pip-Boy, she took another pull of her whiskey as her leg continued to throb. She was up 8,000 chips and on her third Blackjack in a row. At first she had thought this a complete waste of time, but with these chips and the vending machine codes she found around the Villa and casino, she could get a lot of ammo and stims.

She busted on her current hand and glared at the hologram. "Stupid cheatin' invisible robot." She shook her head to clear it, realizing she was a little buzzed. She barely ever drank, and her tolerance level was quite low, something Cass liked to remind her every time she had a drink.

Standing slowly, she made her way back to the lobby, taking extra care on her injured leg.

"You there?" she spoke into the microphone in her collar. It crackled for a moment, and she heard Elijah muttering to himself. Finally, he spoke to her.

"It's time to tie up the loose ends. You'll have to deal with you companions. They're in the building. Their collars have to be deactivated. If you kill them, you can escape you own collar going off."

"Why?" Layla sputtered, not expecting his sudden demand.

"Do you really think you can trust any of them?" he continued. "Only one of you is getting into that vault. Best to get the others out of the way. The building is interfering with the signals from their collars, otherwise I'd just detonate them and be done with it. But that same interference will allow you to take them out and get to safety before your collar detonates."

"I'm not going to kill them," Layla said firmly.

"Then do whatever you have to. Just get them out of the way."

*.*.*

"Fucking God-damned sneaking, lying son-of-a-bitch!" Layla hissed as she slammed the door, walking backstage of the Tampico. She was going to kill Dean. He had activated the security holograms in the theater and made his escape. Layla had to twist her injured leg in many painful positions to evade their fire.

She limped on her still throbbing leg, now very sober. Turning the corner, she ducked under a small concentration of Cloud seeping through the broken walls. Her collar started beeping.

"God. Damn. Radios!" She threw the closest door open and spotted another wooden model chirping static at her. She snapped a shot from her hip, and it exploded satisfyingly. Her collar stopped beeping, and she sighed.

Looking around, the Courier found herself in a dressing room. Under further scrutiny, the room apparently belonged to Dean Domino.

"Great, perfect, magical." She lifted a key off the desk, thinking it might be useful. She had turned to leave when a safe on the wall caught her eye.

A few minutes later, she marched into the projection room, holo program in hand. With a 'show' playing, the security would turn off, per the theater's programming. Then she'd be able to deal with that prick once and for all.

By the time she entered the backstage door, Dean was waiting for her.

"You really are something," he hissed at her. "But this is my show. It's been lifetimes in the making."

"I found the holotape in your dressing room." Layla said flatly. Dean gave her a slightly confused look, then grinned.

"Did you? Well, I suspected you'd been snooping around the whole time. You were bound to find something out. This was to be my grand heist. I was setting up that idiot Sinclair the whole time."

Layla frowned. She had pieced together most of the story, but some details had been missing. Sinclair had built the Sierra Madre seemingly for Vera Keyes. He was hopelessly devoted to her. Everything The Courier had seen indicated Vera had loved him too. She remembered the holotape she had found again, something about securing his standing with the singer. "What were you blackmailing Vera with?"

The ghoul seemed genuinely amused as he laughed. "What wasn't I blackmailing her with? Nasty chem habit that girl had. But I didn't even need to blackmail her, not until the end, when she got cold feet. You dames are all the same."

Layla ignored the crack. "What did Sinclair do to deserve this?"

"What did he do?" Dean scoffed indignantly. "He was always so cheerful, no matter how many times his life was dragged through the mud. He thought he was better than me, so I showed him otherwise. I made him suffer." He noted the girl's look of disgust and continued. "He built this place for Vera, using her voice as the key to the vault. But he didn't realize I had Vera in my pocket."

"What good does any of this do now? That was two hundred years ago."

"Well, once you came, and that other girl, things started happening again. I reprogrammed the Auto-Doc for the girl while you set about opening the casino."

"You…You had the that thing tear out her vocal chords?" she sputtered, face starting to turn red. "You sleazy son-of-a-bitch!" The ghoul before her gave her a furious glare, but it mellowed.

"Sleazy? Maybe, but I've also got the only key to get out of here. So when I kill you and leave this room, I'll finally get my hands on what's been rightfully mine."

There might have been a point when she would have at least tried to talk him out of this. Layla wasn't an overly violent woman, but she had been pushed too far in the last few days. A lot of that pushing had come from Dean himself, and what he had done to Christine was the final straw.

The Courier raised her gun towards the ghoul as he drew his. He didn't get a shot off before she put one between his eyes. The ghoul took a single step back before his legs gave out and he crumbled to the ground. His last groan died out, and he followed it.

Walking up to her former companion, she quickly searched him, finding the key to the main doors. Just as her hand closed around it, her collar started beeping. She spared a fraction of second to look at Dean Domino one last time before she bolted for the exit.

Her leg throbbed painfully as she ran. She wasn't going fast enough as the collar around her neck beeped faster.

"No. Nononononono!" She ran as fast as her hurt leg allowed, all the while the tone on the collar echoing in her mind. She jammed the key into the exit door as she reached it and jumped through, slamming the door behind her as she dove into the lobby, losing her footing and crashing face-first to the ground.

The beeping stopped, and Layla started gasping for air. Just as she caught her breath, she heard a suspiciously familiar skittering noise.

"Good, you got the first collar offline," Elijah piped in from her wrist. "I… hm, looks like the casino has some unexpected guests."

The Courier looked up in time to see a Ghost Person swinging a knife spear at her head.

* * *

Happy Mardi Gras, folks! I'll be announcing the next story on Saturday, as we only have another three chapters for this one.


	12. Color up

Layla rolled away from the Ghost Person's swing, getting only a minor cut down her shoulder. She drew the pistol from her hip and fired at the creature, scoring a shot to the head. It clattered to the ground, and she started scanning for others. She could hear them, and it sounded like they were everywhere.

The Courier pulled herself awkwardly to her feet and hobbled toward the terminal at the front of the lobby. Hopefully it was still online, even after security had been closed down. Just as she reached it, she heard the sharp intake of air that usually meant a Ghost had spotted her.

She ducked her head down and started furiously tapping at the computer. After a few moments, she grinned and keyed a command, ducking completely under the counter. For a moment, she thought nothing had happened. Then there was a loud humming and the sound of energy shots as the security holograms started tearing into the ghosts. After a few very loud moments, the room quieted.

Reaching overhead carefully, Layla keyed off the holograms, and the humming softened. She peeked her head over the counter and let out a low whistle at the number of fried ghost bodies.

Now her shoulder throbbed along with her leg, and there was a tear in her new armor. She felt along the new cut. It was more of a scratch, but she didn't like how the opening in the armor's body suit made her feel exposed. She dug through her bag, hoping she could find something to fix the tear. All she had was an old pre-war hat that resembled the color of the body suit. As quickly as she could, she patched the tear. It actually looked halfway decent when she was done.

While she was at it, she checked her guns. The pistol she'd found at the police station had been her favored weapon, and it's condition reflected it. She looked at the 9mm she had found along the way and squinted. The components weren't exactly a fit, but she started taking the 9mm apart. After a little jury rigging Raul would be proud of, she had fixed the magnum.

Now all she had to do was find Dog/God and Christine. She started tapping on her Pip-Boy and found the marker for Dog/God's collar was closer. Carefully hobbling over the Ghost bodies, she headed their way.

*.*.*

The smell of propane filled the kitchen of the Cantina Madrid, nearly choking Layla as she entered. She immediately spotted a gas line which had been tampered with. Being extra careful, the girl closed the gas feed. As she finished, she heard the voices of Dog and God.

"Dog wants it to end." That couldn't be good. The Courier slowly peeked into the main area of the kitchen and found Dog/God standing in the middle of the room, his expression changing eerily each time one of them spoke.

"If you do this, we'll both-" God's voice faltered as Layla stepped into view slowly.

"God? Dog? What's going on?" She moved carefully, not making any sudden moves. She spotted another valve spewing gas into the air in the pipe work.

"Dog remembers you. You put Dog in the cage." The nightkin sounded despondent as Layla slowly made her way to the open gas line.

"I can't control him. He won't listen to me! He'll ignite the whole casino!" God's voice rang out as Layla quickly closed the pipe and turned back. Dog was clearly in control now as he stepped menacingly toward her. The look on his face was confused and enraged at the same time.

"Don't run, Dog break you so you can't run." He started for her, and the girl backed up, nearly tripping on her injured leg. She held her hands out to him.

"Dog, please, you don't have to do this!"

The nightkin stopped short, not quite close enough to reach her. The confusion resurfaced on his face, and Layla could see both personalities battle for control.

"I can't stop him! Tell him to pull the leash, end this!" God yelled to her, sounding panicked. She was certain she could talk Dog into to doing it, rip the chain around his neck hard enough to kill himself. That didn't mean she planned to. Dog was fumbling near one of the stoves, and Layla shouted to him.

"Wait, wait! Dog, can you hear me?" The nightkin looked at her. "You're talking to the voice; you two can hear each other, right?"

"Dog can hear the voice." He sounded more confused than angry now. Layla wasn't very well versed in psychology, well, beyond what her instincts told her about people, but the two voices had never spoken to each other directly before. That had to mean something. An idea was forming in her mind as she took a small step closer, hands still raised.

"Good. Look at the voice, Dog; it's water. Look into the water." At first, the nightkin gave her an incredulous look, then furrowed his brow.

"It… The voice looks like Dog." Yes. That's what Layla wanted.

"You-you were me the whole time," God said, sounding amazed.

"Good." They had somehow made it most of the way themselves. Layla knew it would only take another push. "Good. Now Dog, go into the water, join with the voice." She was surprised when the super mutant looked at her mournfully.

"Dog doesn't want to forget you." She could see God's mannerisms take hold as she gave him a confused look.

"If we do this, we will forget you, forget everything… and we will not be able to help you with Elijah. I… we don't want you to have to face him alone…"

The Courier gave him a smile. "That doesn't matter; what matters is that you heal."

Both sides of the nightkin contemplated her words, then God answered, "Thank you, you've been much better to us than we to you. When you get to Elijah, be sure to save yourself, like you saved us. Otherwise I'll be angry."

Layla smiled again, and Dog/God closed their eyes and became silent. After a moment, the nightkin's body crumpled to the ground, and Layla moved out of habit to try to catch him. Before she got close enough, confused eyes opened and looked at her.

"What…where am I?" The voice sounded like God, but with a hint of Dog's gentle inflection. Layla took a step back as the nightkin stood. "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend," Layla said. "Are you okay?"

"I…I don't know." He looked down at his arm, "This… bear trap is stuck to my arm, so much pain."

"Here." Layla pushed some stimpaks and Med-X into the mutant's hands. She wanted to stay with him and bring him up to speed, but she couldn't linger. "I have to move on. This place is dangerous. You need to escape."

"Forgive me, but I…" The nightkin gave Layla an appraising look. "I don't remember you, but I think I know you. You've helped me."

The Courier shrugged at him with a smile. There really wasn't time to go over all of this. She could run it down quickly, but it would be probably more confusing. "Please, you need to get to a safe place… Will you be okay?"

"I just need to rest a moment. I will be okay."

Layla nodded, moving to leave the kitchen. She stopped, looking back at the nightkin.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye… friend."

*.*.*

"I'm not leaving."

"What?" Layla was lying on a medical table, trying very hard not to look at what the Auto-Doc was doing to her leg. Instead she focused on Christine and her apparently new voice, both of which she had found in the hotel suites. "What do you mean you're not leaving?"

"I… I'm staying here. This place is dangerous. Someone needs to tend to it. And Elijah needs to die for what he's done. He's responsible for much worse than what's happened here." She looked over at the Courier as the Auto-Doc cut into her leg.

"I… Ow! God DAMN that hurts! Listen, you can't just stay here. You've got to go back." She bit her lip and refused to look down at her leg. "Back to reprogramming power fists with Veronica."

She really hadn't meant to say that, and Christine's face indicated she really hadn't expected it either. Both women stared at each other for a moment, eyes wide. Layla opened her mouth to try to smooth it over, but instead let out a particularly filthy swear as the Auto-Doc made another break in her shinbone. Christine seemed to have thrown the shock off and chose to ignore the other's outburst.

"He… he's why Veronica and I were separated. When he went rogue, I was ordered by the Brotherhood to track him down once word had come back from some of the things he was doing. I followed him to a place called the Big Empty. It was full of old world medical tech. That's where I got these scars, why I can't read. They stuck electrodes in my head and lit it up like a flashlight."

"Electric shock treatments," Layla breathed as she felt the bones of her leg get manipulated further. "Pre-war stuff, not good."

"No kidding. Elijah trapped me there just so he could escape."

"How did you get out?"

"I was rescued, by another courier." There was amusement in her voice. "I guess you guys really are dependable."

"We aim to please." Layla relaxed on the bench. The thing seemed to be done moving her bones around.

"Well, he helped me out, helped me heal. Said he knew what it was like to track someone down who made an impact on their life."

There was a 'ding,' and the Auto-Doc went back to it's original position. Layla peeked down and found her leg bandaged. She stood and tested it. It still hurt enough to make her limp, but it didn't feel 'wrong' like it had before. She thought for a moment on her next step. Christine could get her into the vault now that she had Vera's voice. She looked up at the other woman, and a thought crossed her mind.

"If you're planning on staying… what am I going to tell Veronica?" Judging by the face Christine made, she had been preparing for this question.

"Don't tell her I was here."

"Wha- How could I keep that from her? She still loves-" Layla bit down on her lip hard enough to make it bleed. That treacherous Auto-Doc must have given her Med-X. It always loosened her tongue.

Christine looked sad, but not surprised. "I can't leave, not even for her, not even if she came to find me. If she knew about this, it would only upset her for nothing. "

"She thinks you didn't want to be with her. She thinks you left the Brotherhood."

"I know. It's better this way. Besides… I have left the Brotherhood." The woman gave Layla an almost pleading look. "You've got to promise me you won't tell her about any of this. At least anything concerning me."

The Courier sighed heavily and started pacing around the room. She stopped and faced the other woman. "All right, I promise."

Christine smiled humorlessly at her. "Thank you."

Layla turned away from her, taking a last look around the suite. She found herself staring into the bedroom, where "Let go" had been scrawled on the wall, and Med-X syringes littered the floor surrounding a skeleton in a red and black dress, the remains of Vera Keyes.

"She was trapped in here," Christine said as she walked up behind the Courier. "According to the Auto-Doc's files, she had a terminal disease. All the Med-X at her disposal was for the pain. I guess she decided to end it rather than be trapped when the bombs fell." The woman looked around the room. "I don't understand this place. It was a casino, but it had a vault? Why would the builder make the lock her voice?"

"He loved her…" Layla said, looking at the body. "It was all for her."

Both women were silent for a moment, then Layla found herself eyeing the dress on the skeleton. She usually refused to disturb the pre-war bodies one found all over the Mojave and beyond, but damn that was a nice dress…

"Well, we can access the vault now, right? I'll get it open."

Layla took a last look at Vera, feeling her heart ache for the woman, then turned away. Soon they were in the hallway that lead to the vault. While Christine fiddled with the door, Layla noticed a safe in the room and occupied herself by picking the lock. As Christine got the door open, she heard the Courier laugh. She looked and found the girl holding up an exact replica of the dress Vera had worn.

"Ah, fate has a funny sense of humor," Layla said as she rolled up the dress and stuffed it into her bag, which was getting pretty full at this point. And with the auto rifle and the new shotgun strapped to her back, she probably looked like crazed militant. She started walking for the door.

"I'm going to wait here. Be careful down there. Elijah won't want to let you leave." Layla stopped, mid-stride. Something about the way she said that…

"You're planning on waiting for him, aren't you? You want to kill him." Christine turned to Layla, a wary look on her face. She apparently hadn't expected the other woman to guess her plan.

"I… He can't be allowed to live. The things he's done to so many people…" The bald woman's hands clenched at her sides. Layla recognized the look on her face; rage. The kind that made you blind and sloppy in a fight.

"Christine, let me take care of him."

"No, I…" She looked at Layla, then sighed heavily. "I can't."

"Listen, if I don't make it, and he tries to escape, he'll have to come back this way to get out. You'll be the last one left to stop him. Do it if you have to. Otherwise, let it go, or it'll destroy you."

"You can't let him live."

Layla gave her a humorless grin. "He basically told me he's going to use the tech in this place to kill most of the Mojave. I hadn't really planned on letting him do that."

Christine frowned, then nodded. "Okay… I'll go up a level, otherwise he'll pick up my collar."

Layla nodded. "Okay… Don't tell me where you're going, just be careful."

Christine nodded and took the Courier's hand, giving it a squeeze. Neither woman spoke as they parted ways.

* * *

Both mine and my editor's thoughts and prayers go out to those effected by the recent tragedy.


	13. Final Table

Laser blasts scorched the floor just as Layla ran past, pumping her legs as fast as she could. She slapped the controls of the Sierra Madre's Vault door, which opened slowly. She squeezed in as soon as the opening was wide enough, quickly closing the door behind her.

The vault door slammed shut, shielding Layla from the turrets' fire. She sighed in relief; there had to be a way to turn them off from here. Traversing the walkways leading to the vault had been a nightmare of holograms and blaring radio signals, but she'd done it. She'd even found Sinclair's body next to a very angry holotape message. According to the tape, he had caught on to Dean's scheme and had changed the vault into a trap for Dean and the treacherous Keyes.

She looked around the vault. This was what it all had been for. And it was pretty much empty. Completing her turn, she found a table piled with money and gold bars. She stared, then slowly reached out for one of the bars. It was heavy… very heavy. She wouldn't be able to carry more than a couple… maybe not even that. She carefully packed two of them into her bag and tried it on her back. Just two were pushing it, but she'd manage with the extra weight.

Even with the gold, the vault didn't seem to hold anything worth the effort that had gone into finding it. The gold bars were a fortune, especially in pre-war times. But that hardly required the firepower that had protected it.

Shaking her head, Layla made her way to the computer terminal, keying it on. On it, she found a message left by Sinclair for Vera. By the time she had finished it, she was holding back tears.

The vault, the whole Sierra Madre, had been built to protect Vera from the war. Sinclair had put every dollar he had left into the place so they would survive the bombs. Even as Vera's terminal disease had become apparent, he had planned to make her remaining time as safe and comfortable as possible.

When Sinclair had found out that Dean was using her to betray him, he had turned the vault into a trap. But when Vera came forward and confessed, he forgave her. The holotape she had found near Sinclair's body had been ripped out, replaced with a warning about the trap.

As Layla contemplated this turn of events, the large screen behind the terminal switched on, and Father Elijah's face appeared.

"You've done it. No one else has made it this far."

"What did you want with this place?" Layla said. She was about at her wit's end dealing with the man. "There's barely anything here of value."

"It was never anything in the vault that I wanted, but the vault itself. Access to it means control of the entire complex. I'm going to make a nation, and the Sierra Madre had everything I need to do so. Weapons, a fortress. The invulnerable holograms are more potent than a whole army. The Cloud can wipe out life wherever it touches. The vending machines can make anything, from food, supplies, and, ammunition, to valuable technology such as your slave collars."

Layla hoped he couldn't see her face. The man was insane… but brilliant and incredibly evil. Not a good combination. Christine was definitely right; he couldn't be allowed to follow through with any of this.

"Are you coming down here?" she asked finally. Now it was Elijah who took a moment before answering.

"No. You're resourceful, clever. I've waited too long to walk into a trap."

"Come on, the collars have done their job. I've done what you wanted. I just want to go home."

There was silence, then the man answered, "Very well, I'm coming down. Meet me by the vault door."

Layla knew he was lying to her just as much as she was lying to him. She opened the door and walked out, leaving it open behind her. Soon Elijah appeared on the catwalk leading to the vault.

"You've been a useful ally," Elijah said, stopping near the lip of the platform. She watched as he deactivated the force field and stepped through. The force field reactivated behind him. That couldn't be good.

The Brotherhood elder said nothing more, but the look on his face told Layla everything she needed to know. He was here to tie up loose ends. The thought had barely crossed her mind when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The turrets lining the walls were coming back online and turning her way.

Just as she pivoted to leap back into the vault, she felt a burning explosion rip across her shoulder and back. She let out a cry as she crashed to the ground, now mercifully shielded by the huge metal door of the vault. She pulled her legs into the small room just as the turrets adjusted to her position.

The turret controls were just above her head, and she climbed unsteadily to her feet. It only took a few keystrokes to realize the terminal was locked. She heard Christine's voice cut in and out from her Pip-Boy.

"Try to help… he's… locked me out of the system."

Layla shook her head, feeling light-headed as pain surged through her back. She didn't have time to wait. A generator stood below the terminal. She stepped back, aiming her shotgun. One shot was all it took to destroy it.

She listened to the sound of the turrets powering down, then the echo of Elijah's muttering. He had to have a backup plan; he was too intelligent not to. So Layla went to her backup plan and threw a grenade out of the vault door.

It's explosion was deafening in the echoing chamber, and Layla leapt out of the vault just as the shockwave passed, hoping to catch Elijah off guard. Instead, an energy blast caught her in the hip as she emerged. Her armor took a lot of the damage, but Layla held back a scream and dropped to one knee.

Elijah stood in the same place she had left him, reloading the gauss rifle in his hands. If she couldn't force herself to move before he finished, she was dead. Layla took a deep breath, shutting out the pain and fear coursing through her as she launched herself toward the elder at an angle. She closed the space between them as Elijah raised his rifle. Before he could fire, The Courier's brought her shotgun to bear. The blast caught him in the stomach, and he dropped his rifle and crumbled to the ground.

Layla kept her gun trained on him for several moments, but he didn't move. It was over. The Courier barely got a chance to sigh in relief before her collar started beeping.

"Ah crap."

She took off in a run toward the entrance, pumping her legs as fast as she could. The walls began to shake as she ran past. The blow to the generator must have caused more damage than she thought. Rounding a corner, she had to dive under a blast from a steam pipe. Her collar beeped faster, and panic started gripping her; she wasn't going to make it.

Just as the collar started beeping faster than it ever had, she slapped the elevator door open and leapt in, furiously pounding on the buttons. The elevator began moving very slowly. Layla closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Just as she was expecting the explosion that would end it all, the metal around her neck went quiet.

*.*.*

Layla looked back at the front gate of the Villa as she dropped the inert slave collar. A feeling of relief had come over her as she had opened the gate, stepping out of that nightmarish place and back to the real world. She had done it, she'd survived. But as she looked out beyond the Villa, her relief dried up.

There was nothing but desert as far as she could see. She still didn't know where she was, and the others had wandered off without her. A thick, lonely feeling came over her, making her anxious. She fiddled with her Pip-Boy for a moment, trying to get an idea of where she was compared to any recognizable location. The screen offered no real answers.

There was a road that lead from the gate. It had to go somewhere, so she started walking. She had patched up her new wounds as best she could, but her armor wasn't looking so hot. When she got home, she'd take the time to fix it right. For now, she walked, limping slightly as she started down the path.

The area around the casino looked dead and bare, with a sinister pallor from the waning sunlight. She wasn't free of the Cloud yet. It would probably take an hour's walk before she'd breathe clean air. That gave her something to look forward to at least. She was having a hard time convincing herself not to despair; between the sharp pains from her wounds, the unknown area, and the pressing loneliness, she was miserable.

Looking further down the road, she thought she saw something coming her way. Her hand went to the pistol at her side, and she squinted her eyes as the shape became more recognizable. She stopped, not believing what she saw. A few moments later, Rex nearly barreled into her, barking happily.

"Rex! Rex, why- how are you here?" She wasn't prepared for the surge of relief that overwhelmed her. She sunk to her knees and wrapped her arms around the dog. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, and she buried her face in the fur on his neck. She looked up, and the dog licked her face, barking again.

Looking beyond the dog, she now saw three mores shapes approaching. She recognized Veronica, Arcade and Boone as they got closer and quickly wiped the tears and slobber from her face and stood. Veronica had broken off from the others and ran to her at full tilt. As soon as the scribe reached her, she threw her arms around the Courier. Layla squeezed back, having to force back more tears.

"I'm so glad you weren't eaten by a super mutant!" The Courier blurted out, and Veronica gave her a weird look before squeezing her again.

"Well, that was an efficient rescue," Arcade said as he and Boone made it to the girls. "We were all prepared to storm the place and wrest you from some ghost-filled nightmare dungeon."

Now composed, Layla gave him a wry grin as Veronica let her go. "You're a few hours late."

"What happened?" Veronica said. Layla frowned at her friend, knowing this probably wouldn't be easy.

"Veronica… I found Father Elijah…" she was expecting the girl to be shocked. She wasn't expecting her to look mildly impatient.

"Yeah, I know, but what happened?"

"Wait, you… How much do you guys know?"

"We found Elijah's things in the bunker, and the location of the Sierra Madre to find you. We were going crazy trying to find you." Veronica said.

"Well, I guess we weren't much help after all, huh?" Arcade said. "You managed by yourself."

"Are you kidding? Do you know how happy I am I don't have to carry all this stuff back home by myself?" She was trying to play off how sincerely happy she was, but found herself closing the distance between her and the two men and finally throwing her arms around both their necks.

She felt Arcade's hand on her shoulders and Boone snake an arm around her waist. She had plan to let go quickly, but found herself still clinging to them after a few moments. She closed her eyes and her head came to rest on Boone's shoulder, where she left it. Just as she was going to let go, she felt Veronica reattach herself to her back.

All three of her friends squeezed Layla, and the girl closed her eyes and had to bite her lip to keep from crying again; she finally believed they were really with her. They stayed tangled up in each other's arms for a moment more before Layla regained her composure. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"How far are we from home?"

"About six hours," Arcade said. Layla groaned, sliding out of her friends' arms. It was better than days, like she had originally feared, but much longer than she wanted to walk.

"Boone, carry me."

He actually made a move like he planned to pick her up, and she stepped away, laughing. Taking another step, this time on her bad leg, she stumbled as it buckled under her. Arcade reached her first, gently holding her by the arm to steady her. He looked at the leg, frowning.

"Have you been hurt?"

"Not too much. Ever been in an Auto-Doc? Wild stuff." Her grin faltered as he looked her over, concern clear on his face. Layla hadn't had a chance to look at herself lately, but she must have looked about as good as she felt. She was injured, sleep-deprived, half-starved and dehydrated. The new tears in her armor which exposed her hasty bandaging probably weren't helping her image either.

"Where did these bruises come from?" the doctor asked warily.

"I… an explosive collar." Layla glanced at Boone and immediately regretted it. He looked furious.

"Did Father Elijah do this?" Veronica's voice sounded strained as she looked at her injured friend. Layla turned back to the scribe; this was the course of conversation she had been dreading the most.

She simply nodded, then winced at the girl's face. There were a few moments of tense silence before Boone spoke up.

"Is he still alive?" His voice sounded brittle with rage. Veronica turned to him with an unreadable look. She whipped back toward the Courier when she spoke.

"No."

Boone merely nodded, relaxing somewhat as he looked Layla over.

"You okay?"

The Courier laughed. "Let's just get out of here."

"Wha- I thought we could look around…" Arcade said, looking toward the casino. "It's not too often one gets to explore a non-existent treasure trove of pre-war tech."

"If Father Elijah was after the technology, there's probably a lot of really good stuff in there," Veronica agreed.

"No. There's nothing in there for the living." That comment seemed to only make her companions more curious. Veronica even turned towards the gate. Layla could see a Ghost Person's corpse just inside, the green eyes still lit.

"Let's just go home." Layla had to work at keeping the plea out of her voice. She wouldn't go back into the Villa, never again.

"Come on. We're all here. It's not like you'll be alone," Arcade said, still eyeing the glowing structure.

"We wouldn't take long…" Veronica was starting toward the gate when she heard Boone clear his throat. She turned and found Layla already walking down the road, away from the Villa. Both Rex and Boone followed her closely.

"Hey! Wait up!" Veronica and Arcade both scrambled to catch up to the others. Veronica fell into step with Layla and gave her a look. "If you didn't want to go, you could have just said so."

"I did." The Courier was relieved her friends had followed. She wouldn't go back in there, and she had gotten close to breaking down over it.

The scribe noticed how quiet The Courier was, and how close Boone walking with her, his main form of expressing comfort, and immediately felt bad for badgering her. "Here, give me your bag, I'll carry it."

Layla gladly handed it over, and they walked toward home.

* * *

We will be concluding "Playing the Board" on Saturday. The next story, "Introduction to a Waltz," will be a flashback, and a companion piece to "I Sustain the Wings," which will continue the main "All the Things You Are" storyline. Both stories will be featuring everyone's favorite ex-NCR sniper.

Got all that? Good! See you on Saturday and leave a review if you're feeling in!


	14. Breaking Even

I'm so sorry this is late! I guess the site was having some problems, as I couldn't access the story editor to get the next chapter up until today :S

* * *

Veronica was trying to hold back her tears, and not entirely succeeding. Layla, for once, wasn't sure what to do. The scribe looked up at her holding the holodisk they had found in the bunker. It had been addressed to her from Elijah.

"That…wasn't easy to listen to. It was a goodbye."

Layla didn't speak, mainly because the words on her tongue amounted to the world being a lot better without his brand of crazy. Beneath that was the bubbling urge to tell her everything about Christine. She understood the woman's reasons, but she hated to keep secrets.

The problem was she had given her word, and Layla didn't do so lightly. So instead she gathered her friend in her arms and held her silently. Veronica broke down in tears for a few moments, then gently pushed the Courier away.

"No, I'm okay. He… he really lost it in the end. That wasn't the man I knew." She looked at Layla. "He was hurting people, he hurt you. I'm sorry."

Layla gave her an incredulous look. "You're 'sorry' for what? Don't you tell me you're blaming yourself for all this." Veronica hadn't expected the edge in the other woman's voice. Layla never sounded this stern, even when she was angry.

"You'd better get it out of your head that this is your fault. You didn't do anything to cause this. You helped get me out of it!"

"I… I know, but he-"

"He is not you. You're not responsible for his actions. You didn't even know for sure if he was alive!" She realized how harshly she was speaking. Her tone and face softened. "Please, Veronica, you're not to blame. Don't feel like you are."

The scribe nodded, then gave Layla another hug, which the Courier returned. "Are you okay?"

Veronica looked around the room sadly for a moment. "Yeah. Are you?"

"I am, now that I'm back with you guys," Layla answered. Veronica's face lit up a little, and she gave her friend another squeeze.

They left Elijah's room, having searched it for anything useful. Layla had also taken the time to hand out the 'presents' she had brought back from her trip. Most notable was the auto-rifle Arcade had dubbed 'ridiculous,' which she had given to Boone.

Arcade and Boone were in the hallway leading to the exit, splitting up the rest of Layla's gear. She liked the new clothes and gear she had found at the Sierra Madre, even if Vera's dress was a bit more revealing than she was used to, but it felt infinitely better to be in her familiar wandering outfit right now.

Rex jumped to his feet as Layla entered and stuck his head under her hand. She scratched him behind the ears as Arcade gave her a sour look.

"How does one woman need this much clothing?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Those are all business clothes, and I'll thank you not to rumple them." She smiled easily. "Let's head back."

*.*.*

"So, what's the good news?" Layla kept her tone light as she sat in the bathroom of the Lucky 38's Presidential Suite. She had wanted to crawl into bed when she saw the overly welcome, familiar rooms, but Arcade had insisted her injuries be cataloged and addressed. She would have resisted if it hadn't been for the wound on her side, which was definitely infected. She looked to the doctor. He seemed to be forming a careful response.

"Give it to me straight," she said. The doctor sighed, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"You've got multiple lacerations, some of which are infected. You've done some damage to the tendons near your shin bone. You're covered in contusions. Your back and right shoulder have numerous burns, some of them serious. You are suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and sleep deprivation. And you currently have a fever."

"Ah. Well, that sounds bad when you put them all together."

"Yes it does. And now we get to clean and dress all the lacerations."

Layla gave the doctor a weak grin. She looked down at her damaged body. "I guess I'm not gonna win any beauty contests for a while, huh?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Arcade said as he went to work. "I'm sure you'd still give most of the Mojave a run for their money."

Layla laughed, a real smile coming back to her face. "I missed that. I had absolutely no handsome doctor's flattering me in that hellhole."

"The horror." Arcade methodically moved from cut to cut, but his eyes kept wandering to the girl's face. She looked beyond tired.

"We should have gotten you straight home…" the doctor murmured as he started on the particularly nasty wound on Layla's side.

"I didn't want the King or all of 1st Recon to worry," she said and heard Arcade scoff.

"Then we should have sent Boone; he's the one who riled them all up anyway." Layla frowned. That comment hadn't been playful banter. He sounded angry.

"Were you guys fighting? There was some weird vibe going on the whole walk home…"

Arcade looked at the girl for a moment. He could tell she wasn't happy with this development. He sighed, straightening for a moment. "No. Well, there was some friction, but nothing major."

Layla was grinning now. "Uh huh, who punched first?"

"I did, of course. Knocked Boone out cold. Very emasculating for him, I'm sure."

*.*.*

Red hazed filled with glowing, green eyes had violently ripped Layla from her sleep. She sat up in bed, cold sweat clinging to her from yet another nightmare. She looked at her Pip-Boy. She had only been asleep for fifteen minutes this time.

She groaned loudly, wondering if she'd ever sleep properly again. She had been lying in bed for hours, trying to catch up on days' worth of lost rest. But nightmares and clinging ghosts kept her from being able to relax.

Grabbing her pants, she slipped them on and left her bedroom, ignoring how she felt like a mummy after Arcade had finished dressing her wounds. Victor wasn't in the hallway for once; he had disappeared not long after Layla had resurfaced, just as soon as he had seen she was okay. The girl hadn't gotten the chance yet to thank the robot. She also wanted to have a chat with him, curious about his breaking House's wishes.

The silence and shadows she found in the hallway weren't what she had been looking for. She had seen enough of both to last her a while. Quietly poking her head into the guest bedroom, she found the lights were out and the bodies on the beds were all asleep. It was too dark to make out who exactly was in the room, and The Courier wouldn't let her loneliness interrupt their rest, even if she was envious of it.

Instead she walked to the kitchen, planning on turning the radio on and sitting around until someone woke up. She jumped when she nearly crashed into Boone, who had just walked into the hallway. He looked at her, and she suddenly felt self conscious as he took in all the bandages that covered her. Taking off his sunglasses, he turned his gaze to her face, gauging her carefully.

"Can't sleep?"

Layla's shoulders slumped as she sighed. "No. Night- um, you know just can't sleep." She blushed, too embarrassed to fully admit she was having scary dreams. Boone kept looking at her as she slid a cheerful façade over her face and a nearly convincing smile tugged at her mouth.

"I'll be fine, just, settling down from all the excitement." She could tell he wasn't buying it. The Courier almost told him how much she wished he'd been with her, and how happy she was to be back with her friends, with him. Instead, she bit her lip, not wanting to worry him or give him some misplaced sense of guilt. The sniper was studying her like he had suddenly developed the ability to read minds. She struggled to come up something to say, but he beat her to it.

"Want to talk about it?" Layla gave him a slightly surprised look; that was usually her line.

"I… yeah." She started for her bedroom, Boone in tow.

*.*.*

Soon Layla was sitting on her bed with Boone on the couch nearby. He looked at her while she stared at her hands, not speaking. She looked so tired, and the bandages that covered her all over almost hid the weight she'd lost. Arcade had assured everyone the Courier would make a full recovery, but it was hard to see her in this condition. The girl had managed her own vengeance, but the sniper wished he could have helped, if only to get a chance to strangle the people responsible for her treatment. She still hadn't spoken, and Boone waited patiently for her to start.

She noticed him looking at her and gave a weak smile. "It wasn't very fun there. There were these… things. Ghost People. You'd shoot them and they'd get up again. I found papers that suggested they were the people who built the place…"

"Must have been some kind of ghouls," Boone suggested, thinking about the downed creature he had seen at the gates of the Villa. According to her, the streets had been crawling with the things. He wondered if that was the source of her nightmares. The sniper opened his mouth to change the subject, not wanting her to dwell on the creatures. But when he looked back her way, he found she had slumped in her bed, fast asleep.

The sniper smiled faintly, glad he had succeeded in soothing the girl. He got up, walking to the bed and straightened her out from the crumpled pile she'd passed out in, careful not to wake her. Satisfied she wouldn't wake up with all her appendages numb, he covered her with her blanket.

The sniper made his way back to the couch. He shuffled through the magazines on the coffee table, finding a Milsurp Review he hadn't looked through yet. Leaning back on the couch, he started thumbing through it.

If Layla was woken by her nightmares again, she'd find him there, watching out for her.

* * *

Thank you all again for reading, I hope you've enjoyed it. I'd like to thank the kind folks who favorited, alerted this story and left me some very nice reviews. And always, thanks go to my editor, without him, none of this would get done.

To make up for my inability to update, we'll be started the new story, "Introduction to a Waltz" on Thursday. The story is a flashback taking place during Companions, which follows the first few days Layla and Boone spent traveling together.

After Thursday, we'll go back to the regular Saturday/Tuesday updates.


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